The association between pulse pressure change and cognition in late life: Age and where you start matters.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Variations across studies in the association between blood pressure (BP) and cognition might be explained partly by duration of exposure to hypertension and partly by nonrandom attrition over time. Pulse pressure (PP) reflects arterial stiffness which may better reflect chronicity of hypertension.

Methods

Over six annual cycles, 1954 individuals aged 65+ years from a prospective population-based cohort underwent BP measurements and cognitive evaluations. We examined the relationship of change in five cognitive domains to longitudinal PP patterns across the late-life age spectrum, before and after stratifying by baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) and adjusting for attrition.

Results

There were four longitudinal PP patterns: stable normal, stable high,

SUBMITTER: McDade E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4961825 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature