Framingham stroke risk profile and lowered cognitive performance.
OBJECTIVE
The primary objective of this work was to describe the relationships between 10-year risk for stroke and multiple measures of cognitive performance for a large community-based sample of individuals who were free of clinical stroke and dementia at the time of risk assessment.


METHODS
Participants were 1011 men and 1164 women from the Framingham Offspring Study. The Framingham Stroke Risk Profile was used to assess 10-year risk of stroke. Using a cross-sectional design, we assessed 10-year risk of stroke, the predictor variable, and cognitive performance, the outcome variable, at examination 7 of the Framingham Offspring Study. Multivariable linear regression models were used to relate 10-year risk of stroke to cognitive tests measuring multiple domains of cognitive functioning.


RESULTS
With statistical adjustment for age, education, sex, and other correlates of both stroke and cognitive ability, an inverse association between increments in 10-year risk of stroke and cognitive performance level was observed for tests indexing visual-spatial memory, attention, organization, scanning, and abstract reasoning.


CONCLUSIONS
In stroke- and dementia-free individuals, higher 10-year risk for stroke is associated with performance decrements in multiple cognitive domains.
Elias
Merrill F
MF
Statistics and Consulting Unit, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA. MFElias@aol.com
Sullivan
Lisa M
LM
D'Agostino
Ralph B
RB
Elias
Penelope K
PK
Beiser
Alexa
A
Au
Rhoda
R
Seshadri
Sudha
S
DeCarli
Charles
C
Wolf
Philip A
PA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology*