Effects of age and hypertension status on cognition: the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study.
The authors examined the influence of age and hypertensive status (normotensive, controlled, untreated, or uncontrolled) on several cognitive tests via multiple regression in 357 nondemented, community-dwelling older men (mean age=67 years) whose hypertensive status was stable over 3 years and who had no medical comorbidities. Age was negatively associated with performance on all but 1 test. Age interacted with hypertensive status on verbal fluency and word list immediate recall; older uncontrolled hypertensives exhibited significantly larger age decrements on these tests compared with normotensives. These findings suggest that uncontrolled hypertension produces specific cognitive deficits beyond those attributable to age alone. These and previous findings illustrate that health conditions such as hypertension should be regularly considered in studies of "normal" cognitive aging.
Brady
Christopher B
CB
Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02130, USA. christopher_brady@hms.harvard.edu
Spiro
Avron
A
Gaziano
J Michael
JM
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014728:Veterans