Global Burden of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias Attributed to High Fasting Plasma Glucose from 1990 to 2019

Burden of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other dementias have grown rapidly over the decades, and high fasting plasma glucose (HFPG) was one of the well-established risk factors. It is urgently needed to estimate the global burden of AD and other dementias attributable to high fasting plasma glucose between regions, countries, age groups, and sexes to inform development of effective primary disease prevention strategies and intervention policies.

The burden of AD and other dementias attributable to HFPG was estimated based on a modeling strategy using the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 dataset. The disease burden and time trend globally and by region, country, development level, age group, and sex were evaluated.

The number of AD and other dementias-related deaths attributable to HFPG increased from 42,998.23 (95% uncertainty interval, UI: 4459.86–163,455.78, the year of 1990) to 159,244.53 deaths (95% UI 18,385.23–583,514.15, the year of 2019). The age-standardized death rate increased from 1.69 (95% UI 0.18–6.54) in 1990 to 2.24 (95% UI 0.26–8.24) in 2019. The burden was higher in more developed regions. The burden in women was double that in men, that HFPG-attributable AD and other dementias caused 99,812.79 deaths (95% UI 9005.67–387,160.60) in women and 59,431.74 deaths (95% UI 5439.02–214,819.23) in men, with age-standardized death rate of 2.27 (95% UI 0.20–8.79) per 100,000 population in women and 2.20 (95% UI 0.20–8.00) in men.

Findings from the current study emphasizes the urgent requirement for targeted interventions in high-development regions, as well as the importance of proactive measures in middle-development countries in protection of AD and other dementias. The gender disparity necessitates the integration of gender-specific considerations in targeted approaches in prevention of AD and other dementias.