Raeesi Shima, Zeighami Yashar, Moqadam Roqaie, Morrison Cassandra, Dadar Mahsa
Douglas Research Center, Montréal, QC, H4H 1R3, Canada.
Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montréal, QC, H3A 1A1, Canada.
medRxiv. 2025 Jun 4:2025.06.03.25328899. doi: 10.1101/2025.06.03.25328899.
Education can protect against cognitive decline and dementia through cognitive reserve and reduced vascular risk. This study examined whether vascular risk mediates the relationship between education and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden.
Data from 1089 older adults from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center were analyzed. A composite vascular score was created using diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, alcohol abuse, body mass index, and blood pressure. Linear regressions and mediation analyses examined associations and indirect effects between education, vascular risk, and WMH, adjusting for age, sex, and diagnosis.
Higher education was associated with lower vascular risk ( < .001) and WMH burden ( = .01). Mediation analysis showed an indirect effect of education on WMH via vascular risk (a*b = -0.02, = .004), accounting for 23% of the total effect.
Education influences cerebrovascular health via reducing vascular risk. Addressing vascular health may reduce WMH burden.
教育可通过认知储备和降低血管风险来预防认知能力下降和痴呆症。本研究探讨了血管风险是否介导了教育与白质高信号（WMH）负担之间的关系。
对来自国家阿尔茨海默病协调中心的1089名老年人的数据进行了分析。使用糖尿病、高血压、高胆固醇血症、吸烟、酗酒、体重指数和血压创建了一个综合血管评分。线性回归和中介分析检验了教育、血管风险和WMH之间的关联及间接效应，并对年龄、性别和诊断进行了调整。
高等教育与较低的血管风险（<.001）和WMH负担（=.01）相关。中介分析显示，教育通过血管风险对WMH有间接效应（a*b = -0.02，=.004），占总效应的23%。
教育通过降低血管风险影响脑血管健康。关注血管健康可能会减轻WMH负担。
