Midlife Work-Related Stress is Associated with Late-Life Gray Matter Volume Atrophy.

BACKGROUND

Work-related stress has been associated with an increased dementia risk. However, less is known about the mechanisms that underlie these associations.

OBJECTIVE

The goal is to examine associations between midlife work-related stress and late-life structural brain alterations.

METHODS

The Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Dementia (CAIDE) study participants were randomly selected from independent population-based surveys (mean age 50) in Finland. MRI measurements included gray matter (GM) volume, white matter lesions (WML) and medial temporal atrophy (MTA) (1st re-examination,  = 102); and GM volume, hippocampal volume, WML volume, cortical thickness, and MTA (2nd re-examination,  = 64). Work-related stress comprised a score from two questions administered in midlife.

RESULTS

Higher levels of midlife work-related stress were associated with lower GM volume (β= -0.077,  = 0.033) at the first re-examination, even after adjusting for several confounders. No significant associations were found with MTA, WML, or MRI measurements at the second re-examination.

CONCLUSION

Previously shown associations of midlife work-related stress with dementia risk may be at least partly explained by associations with lower GM volume in late-life. The lack of associations at the second re-examination may indicate a critical time window for the effects of midlife work-related stress, and/or selective survival/participation.