Dortmund Vital Study: a protocol of an interdisciplinary cross-sectional and longitudinal study to evaluate impact of biological and lifestyle factors on cognitive aging and work ability (Preprint)

Abstract

Previous research revealed a number of biological and environmental factors modulating cognitive functioning over a human’s lifespan. However, the relationships and interactions between biological factors, such as genetic polymorphisms, immunological parameters, metabolic products or infectious diseases, and environmental factors, like lifestyle, physical activity, nutrition, work type or stress at work, as well as their impact on cognitive functions across the lifespan are still poorly understood with respect to their complexity.

The goal of the Dortmund Vital Study is to validate previous hypotheses and to generate and validate new hypotheses about the relationship of ageing, working conditions, genetic makeup, stress, metabolic functions, cardiovascular system, immune system, and mental performance over the lifespan with a focus on healthy working adults. The Dortmund Vital Study is a multidisciplinary study involving the Departments of Ergonomics, Immunology, Psychology and Neurosciences, and Toxicology of the Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at the TU Dortmund (IfADo) in Dortmund, Germany, as well as several national and international cooperation partners.

The Dortmund Vital Study is designed as a combined cross-sectional and longitudinal study. About 600 subjects aged between 20 and 70 years will participate. A wide range of demographic, psychological, behavioral, sensory, cardiovascular, biochemical, immunological and biochemical data, a comprehensive EEG-based cognitive test battery as well as structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been included in the study.

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of IfADo in October 2015. The initial testing has been conducted between 2016 and 2021 and will be repeated every five years (three follow-up measures until 2035). As of March 2020 (until breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic) 593 participants have been enrolled. Results of a cross-sectional part will be published earliest 2021. Longitudinal data will be analyzed and published earliest 2025.

We anticipate that the study will shed light on sources of large inter-individual differences in cognitive functioning with increasing age and reveal biological and lifestyle markers contributing to work ability, longevity and healthy aging on the one hand, and on risk factors for cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment or even dementia on the other.