Self-Reported Cognitive Disability Rates Increased in U.S. Adults From 2013 to 2023

TUESDAY, Sept. 30, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Rates of self-reported cognitive disability rose in U.S. adults from 5.3 to 7.4 percent in the last decade, particularly among younger adults, according to a study published online Sept. 24 in Neurology.

Ka-Ho Wong, from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and colleagues assessed national trends in self-reported cognitive disability using Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data (2013 to 2023; roughly 4.5 million people).

The researchers found that the age-adjusted self-reported cognitive disability prevalence rose from 5.3 percent in 2013 to 7.4 percent in 2023, with statistically significant increases beginning in 2016. Among younger adults aged 18 to 39 years, the prevalence of cognitive disability nearly doubled, increasing from 5.1 to 9.7 percent, making this age group the primary driver of the overall rise in cognitive disability in the United States.

“These findings suggest we’re seeing the steepest increases in memory and thinking problems among people who already face structural disadvantages,” senior author Adam de Havenon, M.D., from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, said in a statement. “We need to better understand and address the underlying social and economic factors that may be driving this trend.”

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