New website ‘accurately predicts your risk of dementia’

An online calculator that predicts a person’s risk of developing dementia in the next five years has been created.

The site, projectbiglife.ca/dementia, is based on survey results from more than 75,000 Canadians.

It takes into account age, lifestyle factors, weight and previous health conditions to give users a percentage risk of them developing the condition in the next five years.

The scientific study by the University of Ottawa ran for nearly 20 years and each participant was followed for an average of 10 years each.

Findings of the large-scale study were published online on Friday in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, and the dementia tool also went live.

The online questionnaire takes around five minutes to complete and only works for people aged 55 or over, but is 83 per cent accurate, the scientists say.

Various other online calculators exist on the web, but few have robust scientific data behind them.

No need to visit doctor for tests

"What sets this dementia risk calculator apart is that you don't need to visit a doctor for any tests," said Dr Stacey Fisher, the lead author of the study who performed the research largely while she was a PhD student at the Ottawa Hospital.

"People already have all the information they need to complete the calculator in the comfort of their home."

The questions asked in the online tool correspond directly to the data gathered by the scientists in their Dementia Population Risk Tool (DemPoRT).

Factors it takes into account are: age; smoking status and lifetime exposure, alcohol consumption, physical activity, stress, diet, sense of belonging, ethnicity, immigration status, socioeconomic status of the neighbourhood, education, activities where assistance is needed, marital status, number of languages spoken and health conditions.

The calculator gives users their relative level of risk, as well as picking out aspects of their lives where they can make changes to reduce their risk further.

"This tool will give people who fill it out clues to what they can do to reduce their personal risk of dementia," said Dr Peter Tanuseputro, senior author of the study.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has also made it clear that sociodemographic variables like ethnicity and neighbourhood play a major role in our health.

“It was important to include those variables in the tool so policy makers can understand how different populations are impacted by dementia, and help ensure that any prevention strategies are equitable."

The website hosting the dementia online calculator has various other health-related quizzes, including “how long will I live?” and “what’s my risk of having a heart attack or stroke?”.