Abstract
Background there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating an association between subjective memory complaints (SMC) and an increased risk of incident cognitive decline or dementia. To date this has not been examined in hypertensive older adults, a prevalent and growing population group at high risk of cognitive decline. Methods using data from participants in the Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial cohort the association between baseline SMC and incident cognitive decline and dementia was examined using Cox proportional hazard regression. Cognitive function was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Exam and diagnoses of dementia were made using standard diagnostic criteria. SMC was assessed by the question 'do you feel that you have more problems with memory than most?' Analyses were rerun to examine the associations by level of baseline cognitive function, to evaluate the role of SMC by dementia type and by sex. Results baseline SMC were associated with an increased risk of developing any dementia (hazard ratio (HR)1.63 (95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.18:2.25)), Alzheimer's disease (HR1.59 (95% CI: 1.08:2.34)) and vascular dementia (HR2.05 (95% CI: 1.19:3.54)). Similar patterns were seen across all levels of baseline MMSE but were strongest in those with scores of 25-27. There were no clear differences by sex. Discussion a positive report of SMC assessed by a single question in an older adult with hypertension raises the possibility of increased risk of incident dementia. As such its use may be a useful addition to the repertoire of the general practitioner and geriatrician when assessing older adults.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 253-259 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Age and Ageing |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 1 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial was supported by grants made to Imperial College London from the British Heart Foundation and Servier International. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00122811.
Funding Information:
President and the Chief Science Officer of DGI Clinical, which has contracts with pharma on individualised outcome measurement. In 2017, he attended an advisory board meeting with Lundbeck. Otherwise, all personal fees are for invited guest lectures and academic symposia. He is the Associate Director of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging, which is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, with additional funding from the Alzheimer Society of Canada and several other charities, as well as from Pfizer Canada and Sanofi Canada. He receives career support from the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation as the Kathryn Allen Weldon Professor of Alzheimer Research, and research support from the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation, the Capital Health Research Fund and the Fountain Family Innovation Fund of the Nova Scotia Health Authority Foundation Declarations of Sources of Funding: The Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial was supported by grants made to Imperial College London from the British Heart Foundation and Servier International.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved.
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- Ageing
- Geriatrics and Gerontology
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't