A recent study by Janna Dinneweth and Sylvie Gadeyne has shed light on the complex relationships between air pollution, socioeconomic factors, and mortality rates for dementia and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Their research is conducted at the municipality level and highlights the importance of considering spatial patterns in health outcomes.
Using data on dementia and Parkinson’s disease (PD) mortality, they found intriguing correlations. For dementia, higher population density was linked to increased mortality across Belgium, though this relationship weakened when socioeconomic factors were considered—especially in Wallonia. In contrast, less deprived areas in Wallonia showed lower dementia mortality rates, echoing findings from similar studies in England.
For PD, air pollution emerged as a key factor: PM10 exposure was positively associated with PD mortality in Flanders. Meanwhile, in Wallonia, the presence of elderly care homes correlated with higher PD mortality, suggesting institutional settings may play a role.
Surprisingly, no significant link between air pollution and dementia mortality was found overall. However, an unexpected negative association between NO2 levels and dementia mortality in Brussels challenges conventional wisdom about pollution’s impact.
These findings highlight the importance of considering both environmental and socioeconomic factors to address neurological disease burdens effectively. However, the study also highlights several limitations, including low explanatory power in most models, which could be due to unobserved factors or the geographical scale of analysis. Further research is necessary to refine methodologies and address these limitations.
For policymakers, this means interventions might best be tailored to local contexts—population density, pollution levels, and care settings all matter.
Read the full study here: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14859170
