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Blood pressure at the age of 70 as a predictor of incident dementia: A 15‐year longitudinal study
Author(s) -
Wetterberg Hanna,
Najar Jenna,
Rydén Lina,
Kern Silke,
Zettergren Anna,
Skoog Ingmar
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1002/alz.045841
Subject(s) - dementia , medicine , cohort , blood pressure , cohort study , population , longitudinal study , pediatrics , disease , pathology , environmental health
Background We have previously reported that blood pressure (BP) at age 70 predicted incident dementia in a birth cohort born 1901‐02. It is known that BP in older adults has decreased in high‐income countries during the last decades. The aim of this paper was to explore whether BP at age 70 still predicted incident dementia in a cohort born three decades later. Method A population‐based sample of 70‐year‐olds born 1930 was followed for 15 years as part of the Gothenburg H70 Birth Cohort studies. Dementia was diagnosed by geriatric psychiatrists according to the DSM‐III‐R criteria at all examinations. All individuals with prevalent dementia at baseline were excluded in this study. Among drop‐outs, the Swedish National inpatient register was used to detect dementia. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured at baseline and all follow‐ups. To compare the mean blood pressure levels between the groups, Students t‐ tests were used. Result At baseline, 588 participants were free from dementia and 107 individuals developed dementia during the study period. Of these, 18 developed dementia between age 71‐75, 27 between 76‐80, and 62 between 81‐85. Those who developed dementia between age 76‐80 had higher mean SBP (165 [sd + 21.9] versus 155 [sd + 22.1], p =0.016), and DBP (90 [sd + 10.7] versus 86 [sd + 10.7] p =0.045) at age 70, compared to those who remained dementia‐free. There were no differences in SBP or DBP at age 70 among those who developed dementia between age 71‐75 or between age 81‐85. Conclusion Our results suggest that high blood pressure at the age of 70 predicts dementia incidence between age 76‐80 years, despite that mean BP was considerably lower in the later born cohort.