Abstract P166: Folate Intake and Cognitive Status Among Adults 60 Years and Older: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

Abstract

Introduction: Cognitive impairment in elderly is related to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). While an association is reported between cognitive function and lifestyle, conflicting results have been reported between folate and dementia and little is known of this relationship among elderly population in a national sample. Our purpose is to determine the relationship between folate intake and cognitive status among population ≥60 years in a representative sample of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Hypothesis: folate intake are associated with cognitive status among population ≥60 years. Methods: We analyzed data from the NHANES 1999-2002. Cognitive status was measured by the digit symbol substitution exercise score. The main independent variables were folate intake. Folate intake was categorized into tertiles. We used multiple linear regression adjusting for age, gender, race, education, obesity, physical activity and co-morbidities. SAS V9.3 was used to analyze the data taking into consideration the design, strata and weight. Results: Of the 1,249 participants, 43% were male, 83% were white, 32% had less than high school education, 33% were obese, and 49.6% were not physically active. The mean age was 70± 0.45 years. Participants had a mean of 46±0.9 correct score in the cognitive test. Adjusting for the confounding variables, folate intake was associated with cognitive score (2nd tertile adjusted B=3.3 [95% confidence interval (CI)=1.4 and 5.2], p=0.002, and 3rd tertile adjusted B=2.5 [95% CI=0.60 and 4.3, p=0.013). Conclusions: Folate intake was independently associated with cognitive status score among participants ≥60 years old. More research is needed to determine the causal association.