Associations of Vestibular Disorders With Risk of All‐Cause and Cause‐Specific Dementia: A Longitudinal Cohort Study in UK Biobank
ABSTRACT To explore associations of vestibular disorders with all‐cause and cause‐specific dementia and underlying biological mechanisms/neuroimaging changes. A population‐based cohort study of 406,348 UK Biobank participants was conducted. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) balanced baseline covariates, and Cox proportional hazards models estimated hazard ratios (HRs) for dementia outcomes. Inflammatory markers, plasma metabolites, and brain structure changes were analyzed. During 13.9 (SD 2.1) years of follow‐up, 6702 dementia cases occurred. Vestibular disorders were linked to higher risks of all‐cause dementia (HR 1.86 and 95% CI 1.04–3.30), Alzheimer's disease (AD, 2.36, and 1.01–5.51), and vascular dementia (VD, 3.35, and 1.48–7.59). Eight metabolites (e.g., VLDL cholesterol, and histidine) mediated the vestibular disorder‐dementia association. Vestibular disorders also correlated with alterations in dementia‐related brain structures (cortex, subcortical regions, and white matter tracts). Vestibular disorders increase all‐cause and cause‐specific dementia risk. This modifiable factor should be incorporated into dementia prevention initiatives.
Authors
- Qiuyue Dong
- Qi Jing (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3562-7551)
- Guorong Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2032-7053)
- Alimu Dayimu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9998-7463)
- Hanbing Ji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8444-6274)
- Daogong Zhang
- Shanquan Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4724-4892)
- Yifan Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8959-3169)
- Xiaofei Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6968-6256)
- Na Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6715-6013)
- Zheng Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3309-1087)
- Peipei Fu
- Haibo Wang
- Fan Jiang
- Maoli Duan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8437-1583)
Institutions
- Weifang Medical University (CN)
- Western Cape Department of Health (ZA)
- Karolinska University Hospital (SE)
- Shandong University (CN)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Yale University (US)
- Cancer Research UK Cambridge Center (GB)
- Shandong Provincial Hospital (CN)
- Yale New Haven Health System (US)
- HKU-Pasteur Research Pole (HK)
- Science Oxford (GB)
- Connecticut Mental Health Center (US)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Sensory Neuroscience
- Published
- 2026-01-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/sen2.70019
- Primary Topic
- Vestibular and auditory disorders
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province