Adverse Social Determinants Linked to Higher Dementia Risk in People With Type 2 Diabetes

BUFFALO, NY — October 1, 2026 — A new #research paper was #published in Volume 18 of Aging on September 10, 2026, titled “Social determinants of health and risk of dementia in people with and without type 2 diabetes – findings from two large national-scale cohorts.”

The study found that unfavorable social determinants of health (SDOH) were associated with a higher risk of dementia in adults with and without type 2 diabetes (T2D), with particularly strong associations observed among women with T2D.

The research was authored by You Lu and Yilin Yoshida. Both researchers are affiliated with the Section of Endocrinology, Deming Department of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.

People with T2D already face an elevated risk of dementia and cognitive impairment. The researchers examined whether social and environmental circumstances could further shape this risk. Rather than evaluating individual social factors separately, they developed a weighted multidomain SDOH score designed to capture the cumulative and unequal contributions of multiple forms of social disadvantage.

The primary analysis included 10,071 UK Biobank participants with T2D and 11,780 euglycemic participants. SDOH indicators were weighted using an elastic-net approach and grouped into favorable, medium and unfavorable categories. Associations with incident dementia were examined using multivariable models and further evaluated using data from the U.S. All of Us Research Program.

Full press release - https://www.aging-us.com/news-room/adverse-social-determinants-linked-to-higher-dementia-risk-in-people-with-type-2-diabetes

DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.206417

Corresponding author - Yilin Yoshida - yyoshida1@tulane.edu

Abstract video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aql6kZZDrEI

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