Rising cognitive disability as a public health concern among US adults

A 2025 Neurology study reveals a sharp rise in self-reported cognitive disability — defined as serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions — among U.S. adults from 2013 to 2023, using over 4.5 million responses from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), excluding 2020 and those with depression.

Age-adjusted prevalence increased from 5.3% to 7.4%, with significant gains starting in 2016. The biggest driver: adults aged 18–39, where rates nearly doubled from 5.1% to 9.7% — a 90% rise.