Survey: Older adults have strong interest in dementia vaccine

A large majority of older adults say they would be interested in receiving a vaccine that would significantly reduce the risk of dementia, according to new research from the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics.

While there isn’t an approved vaccine to prevent dementia, there is strong and growing evidence that the shingles vaccine can lower the risk of developing dementia by around 15-20%. These findings have fueled interest in how vaccines may be able to prevent or delay dementia, one of the most feared consequences of aging. Several other vaccines have been linked to lower dementia risk, and vaccine candidates targeting dementia’s underlying biology are in development.  

In the new study, published Sept. 21 in JAMA Network Open, 1,529 adults aged 50 or older were asked about their interest in receiving a low-cost, multi-dose vaccine that would reduce the risk of dementia by half for those at high risk. (The vaccine candidates currently under development require multiple doses.)

Key findings

• Nearly 3 in 4 (72%) said they would likely or definitely receive such a vaccine, 21% were not sure, and just 7% said they likely or definitely would not.
• Intentions increased with age. The share who said they would definitely get the vaccine increased from 31% for people in their 50s—who have lower near-term risk of dementia—to 35% for those 70 and older.
• While women appear to gain better protection against dementia from the shingles vaccine than men, they were more likely than men to be hesitant (23% vs. 19%) and less likely to say they would definitely get the vaccine (29% vs. 39%).
• Black adults had the highest levels of hesitation (26%) among racial and ethnic groups. They were also nearly half as likely as white adults to say they would definitely get the vaccine (20% vs. 36%).

“Older adults are highly interested in receiving a preventive dementia vaccine, while relatively few are opposed,” said lead author J. Felipe Montano-Campos, a postdoctoral researcher at USC Schaeffer. “As vaccine options emerge, efforts may be needed to address hesitancy among some groups, including those at higher risk for dementia.”

About the study

Geoffrey Joyce and Julie Zissimopoulos of USC Schaeffer are also authors.

The survey results come from the Understanding America Study, a nationally representative, probability-based Internet panel maintained by the Center for Economic and Social Research at the USC Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy & Government Service.

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging (NIA, R33AG081811). NIA had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; or decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

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