Education Level and Huntington's Disease Progression: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis in Western China.

BACKGROUND

Identifying the effect of modifiable socio-environmental factors on Huntington's disease (HD) symptoms onset and progression is of great value. The role of educational attainment in HD clinical characteristics has not been elucidated.

OBJECTIVES

To clarify the effect of education attainment on the age of motor symptoms onset and clinical progression of HD patients from Western China.

METHODS

A total of 244 adult-onset Chinese HD patients were included in the analysis. Linear regression, Kaplan-Meier analysis, and Cox regression analysis were conducted to assess the effect of education on the disease progression in HD.

RESULTS

Higher education level was significantly associated with slower decline in cognitive performance, as indicated by the Symbol Digit Modality Test (β = 0.339 [95% CI, 0.047, 0.632], p = 0.026), while it exhibited no association with the progression of other symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

The present findings suggest that education attainment is associated with a milder cognitive decline in Chinese HD patients.