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AlzRisk Paper Detail
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Reference: Barnes, 2003
Cohort: Religious Orders Study
Risk Factor: Hormone Therapy


Average Follow-up Time Detail
Participants completed a baseline evaluation between January 1994 and August 2002, and were followed with annual clinical evaluations for up to 8 years. 97% of eligible participants completed at least two follow-up evaluations (mean number of evaluations per person = 6; range: 2 - 9).

Exposure Detail
At baseline, women were asked about current and past hormone therapy use (ever v. never), age of initiation of hormone therapy, as well as age at which they stopped. Current use of hormone therapy was verified by inventory of prescription bottles that participants brought to the interview, and agreement was 93%. 36% of the females reported using estrogen (either past or present use).

The main analysis in this paper assessed the association between gender and risk of AD. We obtained the results for the duration of hormone therapy and AD risk via a personal communication. The exposure distribution by category of duration is not reported.

The results reported here compare duration of HRT use (< 10 years, ≥ 10 years) to no HRT use.

Ethnicity Detail
Ethnicity data are given as percentages of the total cohort, not just the women. 779 were white, 62 were black, 5 were Asian/Pacific Islander, and 2 were American Indian.

Age Detail
At the baseline evaluation, the mean age was 76.1 years.

Screening and Diagnosis Detail
Screening Method:
Neuropsych Testing

AD Diagnosis:
NINCDS ADRDA National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Diseases and Stroke/Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association Criteria (McKhann 1984)

In order to be eligible for the study, participants had to be free of clinical evidence of AD or dementia at baseline. The annual clinical evaluation included a medical history, neurologic examination, and cognitive function assessments.

The AD diagnosis was made by a board-certified neurologist and was based on NINCDS-ADRDA criteria.

Covariates & Analysis Detail
Analysis Type:
Cox proportional hazards regression

AD Covariates:
Aage
Eeducation

These results were obtained from a personal communication with the study author.