Cognitive trajectories and incident dementia after a cardiovascular event in older adults

Abstract

AbstractINTRODUCTIONCardiovascular disease (CVD) is a recognized risk factor for dementia. Here we determined the extent to which an incident CVD event modifies the trajectory of cognitive function and risk of dementia.METHODS19,114 adults (65+) without CVD or dementia were followed prospectively over 9 years. Incident CVD (fatal coronary heart disease, nonfatal myocardial infarction [MI], stroke, hospitalization for heart failure) and dementia (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria) were adjudicated by experts.RESULTSNine hundred twenty‐two participants had incident CVD, and 44 developed dementia after CVD (4.9% vs. 4.4% for participants without CVD). Following a CVD event there was a short‐term drop in processing speed (−1.97, 95% confidence interval [CI]: −2.57 to −1.41), but there was no significant association with longer‐term processing speed. In contrast, faster declines in trajectories of global function (−0.56, 95% CI: −0.76 to −0.36), episodic memory (−0.10, 95% CI: −0.16 to −0.04), and verbal fluency (−0.19, 95% CI: −0.30 to −0.01) were observed.DISCUSSIONFindings highlight the importance of monitoring cognition after a CVD event.