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TOPLINE:

Home foreclosure is linked to an increased risk for memory decline in late middle age, equating to 3.7 additional years of cognitive aging over 10 years, new research suggests.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers used the 2008-2018 waves of the HRS to estimate longitudinal associations between foreclosure and two cognitive outcomes: Memory scores and dementia probability scores.
• Five distinct cohorts were constructed: 2008-2010, 2010-2012, 2012-2014, 2014-2016, and 2016-2018, each representing a different study cohort. Investigators followed participants' memory and dementia probability scores.
• There were a total 15,766 participants. Of these, 249 were treated respondents who experienced foreclosure over a median of 4 years and 15,645 were those who did not experience foreclosure, including 1092 with housing cost burden. Participants in the foreclosure and non-foreclosure groups could be counted more than once in the sample if, for instance, they experienced foreclosure more than once.

TAKEAWAY:

• Foreclosure was associated with a more rapid longitudinal cognitive decline among adults aged 50-64 years, with a decline of 0.007 SDs per year (95% CI, −0.013 to −0.001), than among those who did not experience foreclosure.
• This decline equated to 3.7 excess years of cognitive aging over 10 years (−0.019 SDs per year). Investigators speculated that chronic stress resulting from foreclosure may directly contribute to "structural changes in the brain that precede Alzheimer's disease and related dementias."
• Among those older than 65 years, foreclosure was associated with a greater decline in memory scores and an increase in dementia probability scores from baseline at 2 years post-foreclosure. However, their scores eventually converged with the comparison group.

IN PRACTICE:

"We found that foreclosure was associated with faster memory decline in late middle age," the study authors wrote. "Particularly for current older adults, many of whom were over 50 during the peak of the foreclosure crisis in 2010, the population burden of foreclosure on memory may be substantial."

SOURCE:

Min Hee Kim, PhD, University of California San Francisco, led the study, which was published online on July 29 in Alzheimer's & Dementia.

LIMITATIONS:

The study's treatment group was small, limiting statistical efficiency and precluding detailed subgroup analyses. The authors also acknowledged that unmeasured confounding and information bias from self-reported confounders were potential issues. In addition, the possibility of reverse causation remains, as foreclosure-memory score change associations could arise from preexisting declining memory scores before baseline.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. No relevant conflicts of interest were disclosed by the authors.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.