The relationship of geriatric syndromes with the level of education among centenarians of the Moscow region

Relevance. An increase in the number of centenarians leads to a greater spread of geriatric syndromes, leaving both the pathogenesis of these diseases and the risk factors for their development in this age group poorly understood. At the same time, the risk of disease is often associated with socio-economic factors that were realized at a much earlier age, for example, with the level of education received.

The objective of the study. Study of the relationship between the educational level of centenarians and the risk of developing geriatric syndromes.

Materials and methods. The open-ended observational study included 658 individuals aged 90 years and older living in Moscow and the Moscow Region, both in institutionalized and non-institutionalized settings, who gave written voluntary consent to participate. All participants underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment, as well as a history of socioeconomic status. The Mann-Whitney nonparametric test (for quantitative variables), the Chi-square test, and Fisher's exact test (for categorical variables) were used for the intergroup comparison. Borut's algorithm was used to select the most significant variables. Logistic regression models have been built to account for multifactorial risk.

Results. Individuals with primary education had a 2.6 times higher risk of dementia compared to those with higher education (p = 0.010), and participants with secondary education had a 1.9 times higher risk compared to participants with higher education (p = 0.021). Primary education was associated with a lower risk of chronic pain syndrome (OR 0.395; 95% CI: 0.16–0.95; p = 0.037), compared with those with an average and higher level. Primary education is associated with a 3.4–fold reduction in the risk of polypragmasia (OR 0.294; 95% CI: 0.12–

0.68; p = 0.005). The presence of primary education was associated with orthostatic hypotension (OR 2.217; 95% CI: 1.05–4.77; p = 0.039).

Conclusion. The results indicate a relationship between the level of education and dementia, chronic pain syndrome, orthostatic hypotension and polypragmasia. A higher level of education acts as a protective factor against dementia and orthostatic hypotension, and an elementary level of education protects against polypragmasia and chronic pain syndrome.

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