Comparison of ankle-brachial pressure index and pulse wave velocity as markers of cognitive function in a community-dwelling population.
BACKGROUND
Vascular factors have been implicated in the development of cognitive decline and dementia. The purpose of this study is to determine the association of the Ankle Brachial pressure Index (ABI) and brachial-ankle Pulse Wave Velocity (ba-PWV) to cognitive impairment in a community-dwelling population.


METHODS
The ABI and ba-PWV were measured using the volume-plethymographic apparatus in 388 subjects aged 60 years old and over. The Mini-Mental State Examination was also employed to measure global cognitive status. The effectiveness of the ABI and ba-PWV as putative markers of cognitive impairment were determined by using a multiple logistic regression analysis after adjusting for confounding factors.


RESULTS
Subjects with poor cognition were significantly older and less well educated than those with normal cognition. According to the multiple logistic regression analysis, the lowest ABI tertile was found to be a significant independent risk factor (OR = 3.19, 95% CI = 1.30 to 7.82) of the cognitive impairment, whereas the highest brachial-ankle PWV tertile was not.


CONCLUSIONS
A low ABI was an independent risk factor for cognitive impairment in community-dwelling older populations, whereas a high ba-PWV may not be. Further research will be required to analyze ABI and PWV with greater accuracy.
Sugawara
Norio
N
Department of Psychiatry, Hirosaki-Aiseikai Hospital, Hirosaki, Japan. nsuga3@yahoo.co.jp
Yasui-Furukori
Norio
N
Umeda
Takashi
T
Kaneda
Ayako
A
Sato
Yasushi
Y
Takahashi
Ippei
I
Matsuzaka
Masashi
M
Danjo
Kazuma
K
Nakaji
Shigeyuki
S
Kaneko
Sunao
S
D000368:Aged; D000842:Ankle / Q000098:blood supply; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D015415:Biomarkers; D001916:Brachial Artery / Q000503:physiopathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D011673:Pulsatile Flow / Q000502:physiology*
D015415:Biomarkers