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Cognitive Dysfunction and Greater Visit‐to‐Visit Systolic Blood Pressure Variability
Author(s) -
Epstein Noam U.,
Lane Kathleen A.,
Farlow Martin R.,
Risacher Shan L.,
Saykin Andrew J.,
Gao Sujuan
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/jgs.12542
Subject(s) - medicine , dementia , cognition , blood pressure , verbal fluency test , cognitive test , audiology , cohort study , neuropsychology , cardiology , disease , psychiatry
Objectives To determine whether variability in blood pressure ( BP ) is negatively associated with performance on cognitive testing. Design Multinational, longitudinal, observational cohort study. Setting The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative study. Participants Individuals with a screening diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or normal cognition (N = 626). Measurements Mean, variance, and maximum BP were calculated based on measures collected from screening to 36 months. Analysis of covariance models were used to determine the association between BP measures and cognitive scores at 36 months after adjusting for covariates. Results Greater variability in systolic ( P < .05) but not diastolic ( P > .18) BP was associated with worse global (Modified Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale Cognitive Component and Clinical Dementia Rating sum of boxes) and executive (Trail‐Making Test Part B, Animal Fluency, and Vegetable Fluency) function and episodic memory (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test Total Score). Conclusion There is a clinically significant association between greater systolic BP variability and greater cognitive dysfunction. These results should be verified in other well‐characterized cohorts, and the neuroanatomical pathophysiology underlying the observed greater cognitive impairment should be further explored.