BMJ

Lower Alzheimer's disease mortality observed among taxi and ambulance drivers

December 27, 2024

Study design: This population-based cross-sectional study analyzed mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System for adults in 443 different occupations between January 2020 and December 2022. The study aimed to compare Alzheimer's disease (AD) mortality rates among taxi and ambulance drivers, who frequently engage in spatial and navigational processing, with those in other occupations. Sociodemographic factors such as age, sex, race, ethnicity, and educational attainment were also considered.

Results: Taxi and ambulance drivers had the lowest proportions of deaths due to AD among all occupations examined. Specifically, 1.03% of taxi drivers and 0.91% of ambulance drivers died from AD, compared with 3.88% across all occupations. This trend wasn't observed in other transportation-related jobs that use predetermined routes, such as bus drivers or aircraft pilots.

Impact of study findings: Occupations requiring frequent real-time spatial and navigational processing may be associated with a reduced risk of AD mortality. This finding could inform future research on cognitive health and occupational exposure, potentially leading to new strategies for AD prevention.

Source:

R Patel V, et al. (2024, December 17). BMJ. Alzheimer's disease mortality among taxi and ambulance drivers: population based cross sectional study. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39689964/