48 years of research on health and lifestyle risk factors associated with dementia in Latin America: systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression

Abstract

Latin America has the highest prevalence of dementia worldwide. Despite this epidemiological situation, there is no evaluation of the evidence on health and lifestyle risk factors for the development of dementia in the region. Our objective was to review the evidence on these risk factors. A literature search was conducted between 1977 and 2025 (PRISMA). We conducted a random-effects meta-analysis and meta-regression. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using RoBINS-I. The meta-analysis revealed a statistically significant association between the evaluated risk factors and the development of dementia. However, in the quality assessment of the evidence, we observed "serious" and "critical" risks of bias. The meta-regression analysis identified depression as the only significant moderator. Although an association between risk factors and dementia was identified, the low methodological quality of the studies limits these findings.