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Tea, coffee, and total caffeine consumption and cognition in the elderly: the Cardiovascular Health Study
Author(s) -
Arab Lenore,
O'Meara Ellen S,
Longstreth William T,
Fitzpatrick Annette L
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.742.7
Subject(s) - digit symbol substitution test , caffeine , medicine , cognition , consumption (sociology) , effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance , cohort , placebo , psychiatry , social science , alternative medicine , pathology , sociology
We studied the relationship between consumption of either tea or caffeinated beverages and cognitive function in older adults in participants of the Cardiovascular Health Study, a cohort of men and women of 65 years and older. Cognitive function was measured using the 100‐point Modified Mini‐Mental State (3MSE) examination and the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). Data on tea, coffee, and caffeinated soft drink consumption were obtained from a Willett food frequency questionnaire. Consumption was at least daily in 42.6% of participants for coffee and 23.9 % for tea. The median caffeine consumption was 565 mg/week. In a fully adjusted linear regression with 3062 participants, relative to non‐tea drinkers, adjusted average 3MSE scores were 0.3, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.3 points higher with increasing consumption of 1–3 times/month, 1–6 times/week, 1 cups/d, and 2+ cups/d respectively (p=0.006). An association between tea consumption and DSST score was also seen, rising linearly from 37.8 in non‐tea drinkers to 40.9 in those drinking 2 or more cups per day (p=0.005). Weaker associations were seen for 3MS scores with coffee (p=0.07) and caffeine (p=0.03), and no associations were seen for DSST scores with coffee (0.90) and caffeine (0.87). These cross‐sectional analyses show that improved performance on these cognitive tests was more strongly associated with consumption of tea than coffee or total caffeine from beverages.