NHANES Study on Illicit Drug Use and Alzheimer's Disease Risk in U.S. Adults

A cross-sectional study of 31,876 U.S. adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) investigating the association between illicit drug use and Alzheimer's disease. The dataset, authored by figshare admin karger and last updated in June 2026, includes data on drug use history, age at first use, and Alzheimer's disease status defined by medication use. It was used to perform weighted logistic regression and restricted cubic spline analyses.

Use Cases

• Assess the association between a history of cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine use and Alzheimer's disease risk based on the study's findings.
• Model the potential non-linear (U-shaped) relationship between age at first illicit drug use and Alzheimer's disease odds using restricted cubic spline regression.
• Conduct subgroup and sensitivity analyses to test the robustness of the observed association between illicit drug use and Alzheimer's disease.
• Replicate the weighted logistic regression analysis to evaluate the odds ratio of Alzheimer's disease associated with illicit drug use history.

Strengths

• Dataset is derived from the large, nationally representative NHANES survey, involving 31,876 participants.
• Analysis includes a substantial subpopulation, with 5,857 (20%) participants reporting a history of illicit drug use.
• Study employed multiple analytical methods, including weighted logistic regression and restricted cubic spline analysis, with results reported including odds ratios (OR=1.73) and confidence intervals.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count for the underlying analysis dataset is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Alzheimer's disease status is defined by self-reported medication use, which may not capture all cases.

Provenance

Source

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

Collection Method

Cross-sectional survey data analysis.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-02 09:55:12; freshness should be verified.

Geography

United States