title: Smoking and cognitive change from age 11 to 66 years: a confirmatory investigation.
abstract: Previously we reported that smoking is associated with a small relative decline in cognition from childhood to old age. In this study we perform confirmatory analyses on a further wave of data collected from 298 of the participants, all with age 11 IQ scores, at age 66years, 2years after the original observations. Non-smokers scored a mean 4.9 memory test and 2.6 information processing speed test points and ex-smokers 3.5 memory test and 1.9 information processing speed test points higher than current smokers respectively over the two waves of testing, equivalent to 4-8% of mean test scores, adjusted for the effects of childhood IQ. Across tests a 100l/min higher Peak Expiratory Flow Rate was associated with a 3-4% higher test score at ages 64 and 66years. These data confirm the adverse effect of smoking on information processing speed, and provide new evidence for a similar adverse effect on memory for people in their mid-sixties.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. John.Starr@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Starr
authors.forename: Ian J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Deary
authors.forename: Helen C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.forename: Lawrence J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Whalley
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004522:Educational Status; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010366:Peak Expiratory Flow Rate; D012606:Scotland; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000523:psychology*