Fish consumption and the risk of dementia: Systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies

Accumulating evidence supports some health benefits of nutrients in fish, but evidence from comprehensive investigation of fish consumption and the risk of dementia is limited. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies to investigate this association. Papers relevant to our study published by 2021 were searched using PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library, and Web of Science databases. Pooled relative risks (RRs) of the association between fish consumption and dementia risk were calculated using a random-effects model. Seven prospective cohort studies with a total of 30,638 subjects were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, people with high fish consumption had a significantly lower risk of dementia compared to those with low fish consumption. In addition, the dose-response meta-analysis also supported the inverse association. The inverse association tended to be stronger in studies conducted in Asia. The findings of the meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies provide quantitative evidence for an inverse association between fish consumption and the risk of dementia. Further research on consumption of specific types of fish with respect to the risk of dementia are needed to provide more informative recommendations to the public.