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Dementia · Journal article
Neurobiology of Aging · June 17, 2026
Early or partial results. Treat as a signal, not a conclusion.
This environmental scan catalogues social and structural determinants of health (SSDH) measurement practices across 23 Canadian longitudinal cohorts of aging and dementia. It identifies that disability-related measures and ethnicity/culture constructs are commonly collected, while literacy, environmental context, and economic conditions are rarely assessed, highlighting uneven coverage of modifiable risk factors for dementia.
Environmental scan using literature databases, grey literature, and key informant identification. Canadian longitudinal cohorts of community-dwelling older adults that assessed at least one cognitive or dementia-related outcome.. n = 23. Canada.
From 1043 non-duplicated articles, 14 unique cohorts met inclusion criteria; 23 cohorts total included after grey literature and key informant identification Disability-related measures and ethnicity- and culture-related constructs were among the most comprehensively assessed SSDH domains Literacy, environmental context, and economic conditions were among the least frequently assessed SSDH domains
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Clinicians and researchers should recognize that SSDH measurement in Canadian aging cohorts is inconsistent and incomplete, with major gaps in literacy, environmental, and economic assessments. This limits capacity to study modifiable determinants of dementia risk and may perpetuate blind spots in equitable dementia prevention research and practice.
An environmental scan of existing data collection practices across Canadian cohorts; descriptive and comparative rather than hypothesis-testing, with no intervention or outcome measurement beyond cataloging current methods.
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Quoted from the source exactly as published.
Clinicians and researchers should recognize that SSDH measurement in Canadian aging cohorts is inconsistent and incomplete, with major gaps in literacy, environmental, and economic assessments. This limits capacity to study modifiable determinants of dementia risk and may perpetuate blind spots in equitable dementia prevention research and practice.
Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.
Background. Social and structural determinants of health (SSDH) are key drivers of disparities in cognitive aging and dementia risk, yet their collection in aging and dementia research remains inconsistent. We examined SSDH data collection practices across Canadian longitudinal cohorts of aging and dementia, aiming to identify which SSDH are collected and how they are operationalized.Methods. We conducted an environmental scan using three sources: (1) literature databases (Cochrane, Embase, Medline, PubMed, and Web of Science), 2) grey literature (e.g., Alzheimer Society of Canada's website), and 3) key informants. We included Canadian longitudinal cohorts of community-dwelling older adults that assessed at least one cognitive or dementia-related outcome, including seven key cohorts previously identified by our group. For each study, we extracted information from data collection instruments on whether specific SSDH were assessed, and which tools were used.Results. From 1043 non-duplicated articles identified through database searches, fourteen unique cohorts met inclusion criteria, eleven of which provided data collection instruments. Five additional cohorts were identified from other sources, and together with 7 pre-identified key cohorts, yielded 23 included cohorts. Disability-related measures and ethnicity- and culture-related constructs were among the most comprehensively assessed domains, whereas literacy, environmental context, and economic conditions were among the least frequently assessed.Conclusion. SSDH that shape dementia risk and brain resilience, many modifiable at the community and policy levels, remain unevenly collected in Canadian aging and dementia cohorts. Strengthening and harmonizing SSDH measurement is a critical step toward equitable dementia prevention and reducing health disparities.
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