Abstract
Background:Modifiable vascular risk factors have been associated with late-life cognitive impairment. The Life Simple 7 (LS7) score comprises seven cardiovascular health metrics: smoking, diet, physical activity, body mass index, plasma glucose, total serum cholesterol, and blood pressure.Objective:To investigate the association between individual and composite LS7 metrics and rate of cognitive decline, and potential differences in these associations between young-old and old-old individuals.Methods:This cohort study included 1,950 participants aged≥60 years (M = 70.7 years) from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care-Kungsholmen (SNAC-K), who underwent repeated neuropsychological testing (episodic and semantic memory, verbal fluency, processing speed, global cognition) across 12 years. The LS7 score was assessed at baseline and categorized as poor, intermediate, or optimal. Level and change in cognitive performance as a function of LS7 categories were estimated using linear mixed-effects models.Results:Having an optimal LS7 total score was associated with better performance (expressed in standard deviation units) at baseline for perceptual speed (β= 0.21, 95%CI 0.12–0.29), verbal fluency (β= 0.08, 0.00–0.16), and global cognition (β= 0.06, 0.00–0.12) compared to the poor group. Age-stratified analyses revealed associations for cognitive level and change only in the young-old (< 78 years) group. For the specific metrics, diverging patterns were observed for young-old and old-old individuals.Conclusion:Meeting the LS7 criteria for ideal cardiovascular health in younger old age is associated with slower rate of cognitive decline. However, the LS7 criteria may have a different meaning for cognitive function in very old adults.
Highlights
Vascular risk factors play an important role in the development of cognitive impairment and dementia [1, 2]
Meeting the Life Simple 7 (LS7) criteria for ideal cardiovascular health in younger old age is associated with slower rate of cognitive decline
There was a higher percentage of young-old individuals in the optimal LS7 group for blood pressure, physical activity, and glucose
Summary
Vascular risk factors play an important role in the development of cognitive impairment and dementia [1, 2]. Several modifiable risk factors, such as diabetes [3, 4], poor nutrition [5], smoking [6], low physical activity [7], and elevated blood pressure [8, 9] have been associated with lower level of cognitive performance and faster rate of cognitive decline. It is important to investigate the combined effect of multiple cardiovascular health risk factors. Results: Having an optimal LS7 total score was associated with better performance (expressed in standard deviation units) at baseline for perceptual speed ( = 0.21, 95% CI 0.12–0.29), verbal fluency ( = 0.08, 0.00–0.16), and global cognition ( = 0.06, 0.00–0.12) compared to the poor group. For the specific metrics, diverging patterns were observed for young-old and old-old individuals
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