AUTHOR=Lin Shih-Yi , Hsu Wu-Huei , Lin Cheng-Chieh , Lin Cheng-Li , Yeh Hung-Chieh , Kao Chia-Hung 

TITLE=Association of Transfusion With Risks of Dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease: A Population-Based Cohort Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00571

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00571

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Purpose:</bold> The association between neurodegenerative diseases and transfusion remains to be investigated.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> The study population comprised 63,813 patients who underwent a blood transfusion and 63,813 propensity score-matched controls between 2000 and 2010. Data were obtained from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, which is maintained by the National Health Research Institutes. A Cox regression analysis was conducted to elucidate the relationship between blood transfusions and the risk of dementia.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> A multivariate Cox regression analysis of factors, such as age, sex, cardiovascular ischemia disease, and depression, revealed that patients who underwent a blood transfusion showed a 1.73-fold higher risk of dementia [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.62-1.84] and a 1.37-fold higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) [95% CI = 1.13-1.66] than those who did not. Patients who received a transfusion of washed red blood cells showed a 2.37-fold higher risk of dementia (95% CI = 1.63-3.44) than those who did not.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Blood transfusion, especially transfusion of any type of red blood cells is associated with an increased risk of dementia.</p>