Associations Between Midlife but not Late-Life, Elevated Coronary Heart Disease Risk and Lower Cognitive Performance: Results From the Framingham Offspring Study.

Associations Between Midlife but not Late-Life, Elevated Coronary Heart Disease Risk and Lower Cognitive Performance: Results From the Framingham Offspring Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2019 Oct 02;: Authors: Armstrong NM, Bangen KJ, Au R, Gross AL Abstract It is unclear how coronary heart disease (CHD) risk across the adult lifespan affects latelife cognition. We estimated associations of mid-life and late-life elevated CHD risk with cognitive trajectories (general cognitive performance, processing speed/executive function, memory) in later life (after age 55 or 70 years) in N=2,892 Framingham Offspring Study participants who completed CHD risk assessments approximately every four years since 1971 and underwent neuropsychological testing between 1999-2014. We stratified analyses by apolipoprotein (APOE)-ε4 status. Using linear mixed effects models, elevated CHD risk in midlife (age 55 years) was associated with lower levels of general cognitive performance at 70 years (β=-0.560 standard deviation (SD) units, 95% Confidence Interval, [CI]: -0.874, -0.246), executive function (β=-0.624 SD units, 95% CI: -0.916, -0.332), and memory (β=-0.560 SD units, 95% CI: -0.907, -0.213), but not with rates of cognitive change. Late-life (age 70 years) elevated CHD risk, however, was associated with somewhat better levels of general cognitive performance and memory. There were associations of duration of elevated CHD risk during midlife with levels bu...
Source: Am J Epidemiol - Category: Epidemiology Authors: Tags: Am J Epidemiol Source Type: research