Head trauma as a risk factor for alzheimer’s disease: A collaborativere-analysis of case-control studies

Abstract

A re-analysis of the data from 11 case-control studies was performed to investigate the association between head trauma and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). To increase comparability of studies, exposures were limited to head traumawith loss of consciousness (hereafter referred to as ’head trauma’) and comparisons were restricted to community(versus hospital) controls. Test for heterogeneity across studies was negative; consequently, data were pooled in subsequent analyses. The pooled relative risk for head trauma was 1.82 (95% confidence interval: 1.26-2.67). Stratifiedanalyses showed stronger associations in cases without a positive family history of dementia and in males (versusfemales). Adjustm..