Journal Article Preprint Epublish
PubMed: 40463548 DOI: 10.1101/2025.05.12.25327099
Neighborhood deprivation moderates prognosis in behavioral-variant frontotemporal degeneration.
medRxiv
Authors: Rory Boyle, Nadia Dehghani, Sheina Emrani, Anil R Wadhwani, Melanie Matyi, Katheryn A Q Cousins, Emma Rhodes, Brian Nelson, Shana D Stites, Sharon X Xie, Laynie Dratch, Vivianna M Van Deerlin, Allison Snyder, David Irwin, Corey T McMillan, Lauren Massimo
Affiliations
- Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center, Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
- Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania, 423 Guardian Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; 3400 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Neighborhood deprivation has been associated with shorter survival, cognitive impairment and neurodegeneration in aging and Alzheimer's disease. However, the association of neighborhood deprivation with disease progression in behavioral-variant frontotemporal degeneration (bvFTD) is unknown.
METHODS
We examined associations between tertiles of neighborhood deprivation, using the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), and survival in 311 individuals clinically diagnosed with bvFTD from the Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD) Center. In a subset of participants with complete baseline data across measures of global cognition, executive function, and language (n=163), we examined the association of ADI with longitudinal change.
RESULTS
Higher neighborhood deprivation was associated with shorter survival after symptom onset and faster decline in global cognition, executive and language functions, independent of genetic risk.
DISCUSSION
Living in more deprived neighborhoods (i.e. above the 50 th percentile nationally) was associated with an accelerated disease course in bvFTD, highlighting an important socioeconomic disparity in disease prognosis.
MeSH
Language, Cognition, Prognosis