A Slipping Credit Score Is One of the First Signs of Alzheimer's Disease: Study

A falling credit score is a sign of financial distress. For older Americans, it might also be an early symptom of Alzheimer’s disease or another memory disorder.

In a new study, researchers at Georgetown University and the New York Federal Reserve analyzed credit-payment and Medicare-diagnosis data on more than 2.4 million Americans, finding that a slipping credit score in older adults is often one of the first observable symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

“The results are striking in their clarity and consistency,” Carole Roan Gresenz, a health economist at Georgetown and the study’s lead researcher, said in a statement. “The financial decline we observe mirrors the cognitive decline that these individuals are experiencing.”

In the U.S., nearly 6 million people are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or a related disease. The vast majority of people who suffer from the incurable degenerative brain disease are 65 years or older.

Gresenz explains that the disease often progresses unnoticed until the symptoms are severe. Yet the study finds that late payments on credit cards and mortgages, which result in lower credit scores overall, are evident five years before someone gets officially diagnosed.

For example, credit card balances in delinquency were 25% higher than usual five years before the person was diagnosed.

The closer to the date of diagnosis, the worse the financial problems got. Two years before diagnosis, the past-due balances were 31% higher, and at one year pre-diagnosis, delinquent balances increased to more than 50% above the norm.

“Considering the typical progression of the disease, these findings point to financial consequences of the disease in its earliest stages, when symptoms are typically mild and not widely apparent,” the researchers wrote.

The expansive study, published May 31 by the NY Fed, builds on a body of research linking financial decline and dementia-related diseases. A similar study published by JAMA Internal Medicine in 2020 found that people who were ultimately diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease were more likely to miss bill payments six years before diagnosis, and those people were more likely to develop subprime credit scores (or scores in the 300 to 600 range) about 2.5 years prior to getting diagnosed with the disorder.

And in 2019, Gresenz led a study that showed the finances of households with someone who was later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease declined, leading to a lower net worth often due to worsened financial decision-making and an increased susceptibility to financial scams.

Credit scores to detect dementia?

Given how early the financial impact of Alzheimer's disease starts, researchers are recommending that credit data be used as a diagnostic tool to help doctors and families detect warning signs of dementia-related diseases as soon as possible.

Treatment for a late-stage memory disorder can be financially debilitating on its own, according to the researchers of the NY Fed study. The financial decline that precedes diagnosis only “exacerbate[s] an already destabilizing circumstance.”

The costs of brain imaging alone, which is needed to screen and diagnose Alzheimer’s, limits the accessibility of treatment as it is, they explain.

However, credit data gathered by the big three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) can be used to catch symptoms sooner — and at a much lower cost. The researchers would like to see the creation of an algorithm that uses machine learning to detect dementia and assist with diagnosis.

“Our findings,” Gresenz said, “substantiate the possible utility of credit reporting data for facilitating early identification of those at risk for memory disorders.”

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