AbstractBackgroundThe clinical and cognitive characteristics of people at increased risk of dementia may help provide insights into preclinical stage of dementia. The Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging and Dementia (CAIDE) study risk score is a reliable tool to estimate the individual risk of future dementia. Associations of CAIDE with performance in different cognitive domains are not fully clear in Indian population. Hence we studied the relation of CAIDE scores with cognitive performance in healthy middle aged elderly individuals from India.MethodData from 215 volunteers participated in TATA longitudinal study of aging was analyzed. All participants underwent cognitive tests such as Hindi mental state examination (HMSE), Digit symbol substitution test (DSST), Stroop test, Logical memory test and Addenbrooke Cognitive Examination‐III (ACE III). CAIDE scores are calculated by assigning scores to participants risk factors [age(<47 years = 0, 47–53 years=3, >53 years = 4); education (>/= 10 years = 0, 7–9 years = 2, 0–6 years = 3); sex (female = 0, male = 1); systolic blood pressure (</= 140 mmHg = 0, >140 mmHg = 2); body mass index (</= 30 kg/m2 = 0, >30 mg/m2 = 2); total cholesterol (</= 6.5 mmol/L = 0, >6.5 mmol/L = 2); physical activity (active = 0, inactive = 1)] and then totaling it. Spearman’s rank correlation analysis was conducted to examine the relation between CAIDE scores and cognitive tests.ResultThere was a significant negative correlation between CAIDE score and ACE III total score (rs = −.265, P < 0.001). DSST time and Stroop C time correlated positively with CAIDE score (rs = .241, P < 0.001 & rs = .283, P = 0.01). There was no significant correlation with HMSE.ConclusionOur findings indicate an inverse relation between CAIDE scores and global cognitive performance (ACE III), attention (DSST) and executive functioning (Stroop) but not with memory (Logical memory test). No relation was found with HMSE probably due to ceiling effect. If these findings are replicated then it could give insights in to clinical manifestations of preclinical stage of dementia.