The biological pathways and the extent to which air pollution can affect the cognitive decline in the elderly is not fully understood. In recent years, the impact of air pollution on cognitive impairment has become an active area of epidemiological research and several studies provided supporting evidence. This short review focuses on epidemiological studies in older adults investigating the associations between long-term air pollution exposure and cognitive impairment and decline. Most studies were observational studies and reported assessment of cognitive function using different cognitive scores and air pollution exposure in adults older than 50 years. The results from these studies indicate that exposure to ambient air pollution can have adverse effects on cognitive decline and impairment, but the overall results are heterogeneous and not fully conclusive. The number of epidemiological studies are still limited and additional longer-term studies are needed to confirm the findings. Understanding the relationship between air pollution and cognitive impairment is important to develop preventive measures and to address the needs of people living with cognitive impairment.

尚未完全了解空气污染可影响老年人认知能力下降的生物学途径和程度。近年来，空气污染对认知障碍的影响已成为流行病学研究的一个活跃领域，多项研究提供了支持证据。这篇简短的评论集中于老年人的流行病学研究，研究长期空气污染暴露与认知障碍和衰退之间的关系。大多数研究是观察性研究，并报告了对50岁以上成年人使用不同的认知评分和空气污染暴露对认知功能的评估。这些研究的结果表明，暴露于环境空气污染会对认知能力下降和损害产生不利影响，但总体结果是不同的，并非完全结论性的。流行病学研究的数量仍然有限，需要更多的长期研究来证实研究结果。了解空气污染与认知障碍之间的关系对于制定预防措施和解决认知障碍患者的需求非常重要。