Introduction: This study leveraged the twin study design, which controls for shared genetic and early life exposures, to investigate the association between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and dementia.
Methods: Members of the National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council's Twins Registry of World War II male veterans were assigned a cognitive outcome based on a multi-step assessment protocol. History of TBI was obtained via interviews.
Results: Among 8302 individuals, risk of non-Alzheimer's disease (non-AD) dementia was higher in those with TBI (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.00, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.97-4.12), than for AD (HR = 1.23, 95% CI, 0.76-2.00). To add more control of genetic and shared environmental factors, we analyzed 100 twin pairs discordant for both TBI and dementia onset, and found TBI-associated risk for non-AD dementia increased further (McNemar odds ratio = 2.70; 95% CI, 1.27-6.25).
Discussion: These findings suggest that non-AD mechanisms may underlie the association between TBI and dementia, potentially providing insight into inconsistent results from prior studies.
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; dementia; traumatic brain injury; twin studies.
© 2022 the Alzheimer's Association.