Correlation between number of years in school and alzheimers disease.

BACKGROUND: As Alzheimers Disease (A.D.) gain worldwide attention as a progressive neuro-degenerative illness, its epidemiological characteristics continue to evolve. Among the demographic factors age, gender, certain occupation, family history and poor education have in recent years, emerged as putative risk factors. In the Philippines where the literacy rate among the elderly remains low, the Impact of poor education on the prevalence of Alzheimers Disease (A.D.) continues to be an untouched area of research OBJECTIVE: To determine the correlation between the number of years in school and the prevalence of Alzheimers Disease METHODS: Records of 102 patients diagnosed with probable A.D. by DSM-IV criteria were examined. Analyses of the relationship between the prevalence of A.D. and education level was made using the Pearsons Coefficient CONCLUSION: While the majority of the subjects have between 9 to 14 years of experience in formal education, the analyses revealed no significant correlation between education and the prevalence of A.D. (p0.5).