SynthesisAge and ageing2025
Association between vaccinations and risk of dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Age and ageing, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Guideline
- Management of brain-heart multimorbidity: a clinical practice guideline.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2026Guideline
- Association Between Herpes Zoster Vaccination and Dementia Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Vaccines · 2026Review
- Tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis vaccination and risk for incident dementia among adults with down syndrome.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2026Article
- Rethinking dementia prevention: what the new WHO guidelines get right (and what they left behind).Aging clinical and experimental research · 2026Article
- Beyond association: A quantitative analysis of the infectious burden in Alzheimer's disease.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2026Article
- Risk of dementia after bloodstream infection-a nationwide propensity score matched cohort study.Age and ageing · 2026Article
- [Function-oriented prevention in geriatrics-No autonomy without structural change].Innere Medizin (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Impact of Vaccines Across the Lifespan: A New Perspective in Public Health-Conclusions of an Expert Panel-Part 1.Vaccines · 2026Review
- How well is messaging about the importance of vaccination for people living with dementia being communicated? A jurisdictional scan of National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups and dementia advocacy organizations.Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.)Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
importanceDementia is a highly prevalent issue in older people. Whilst the prevention of dementia is a public health priority, the role of vaccinations is still largely unexplored.
objectiveThe aim of this systematic review is to evaluate whether common adult vaccinations are associated with a reduced risk of dementia. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Embase and Web of Science were searched from inception to 1 January 2025. STUDY SELECTION: Observational studies comparing dementia and mild cognitive impairment incidence between vaccinated and unvaccinated adults aged ≥50 years. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Four reviewers independently extracted data and assessed study quality using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using a random-effects model. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Incidence of dementia, including its subtypes.
resultsTwenty-one studies (n = 104 031 186 participants) were included. Vaccination against herpes zoster was associated with a reduced risk of any dementia (RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.69-0.83) and Alzheimer's disease (RR 0.53, 95% CI 0.44-0.64). Influenza vaccination was linked to a reduction in dementia risk (RR 0.87, 95% CI 0.77-0.99), as was pneumococcal vaccination (RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.47-0.87) for Alzheimer's disease. Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis (Tdap) vaccination was also associated with a significant reduction for any dementia (RR 0.67, 95% CI 0.54-0.83). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Adult vaccinations, particularly against herpes zoster, influenza, pneumococcus and Tdap, are associated with a lower risk of dementia. Vaccination strategies should be incorporated into public health initiatives for dementia prevention. REGISTRATION: https://osf.io/x3d4f/.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.