Alcohol consumption and cognitive function in late life: a longitudinal community study.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between alcohol use and cognitive decline in a longitudinal study of a representative elderly community sample free of dementia at baseline.


METHODS
Cognitive functions and self-reported drinking habits were assessed at 2-year intervals over an average of 7 years of follow-up. Cognitive measures, grouped into composites, were examined in association with alcohol consumption. Trajectory analyses identified latent homogeneous groups with respect to alcohol use frequency over time, and their association with average decline over the same period in each cognitive domain. Models controlled for age, sex, education, depression, smoking, general mental status (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]), performance on the given test at baseline, and subsequent new-onset dementia during follow-up.


RESULTS
The authors found three homogeneous trajectories that they characterized as no drinking, minimal drinking, and moderate drinking. Few heavy drinkers were identified in this elderly cohort. Compared to no drinking, both minimal and moderate drinking were associated with lesser decline on the MMSE and Trailmaking tests. Minimal drinking was also associated with lesser decline on tests of learning and naming. These associations were more pronounced when comparing current drinkers to former drinkers (quitters) than to lifelong abstainers.


CONCLUSIONS
In a representative elderly cohort over an average of 7 years, a pattern of mild-to-moderate drinking, compared to not drinking, was associated with lesser average decline in cognitive domains over the same period.
Ganguli
M
M
Division of Geriatrics and Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. gangulim@upmc.edu
Vander Bilt
J
J
Saxton
J A
JA
Shen
C
C
Dodge
H H
HH
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000425:Alcohol Amnestic Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D020268:Alcohol-Induced Disorders, Nervous System / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015984:Causality; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010414:Pennsylvania / Q000453:epidemiology