The relationship between blood pressure and cognitive performance in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III).
OBJECTIVE
The present study examined the relationship between blood pressure and cognitive performance in 2727 healthy men and women between the ages of 20 and 59 years who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III).


METHODS
Participants were selected from a subsample of 5662 NHANES III respondents who completed an initial home interview, a medical examination, and a series of computerized cognitive tests of visuomotor reaction time, complex psychomotor speed (ie, symbol digit substitution), and verbal learning/attention (ie, serial digit learning).


RESULTS
Hierarchical regressions tested the contribution of resting blood pressure to the prediction of performance on each of the cognitive tests. Results indicated that, after controlling for demographic variables (age, sex, race/ethnicity, education) and resting blood pressure, the interaction of systolic blood pressure by age was a significant predictor of performance on the test of verbal learning/attention. Follow-up analyses revealed that higher systolic blood pressure was associated with poorer performance in those younger than 40 years.


CONCLUSIONS
Expanding on findings from previous epidemiological studies, the present study reports a small but significant relationship between resting blood pressure and cognitive performance that is particularly evident in younger healthy adults.
Suhr
Julie A
JA
Department of Psychology, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA. suhr@ohio.edu
Stewart
Jesse C
JC
France
Christopher R
CR
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology