title: Pulse wave velocity is associated with 1-year cognitive decline in the elderly older than 80 years: the PARTAGE study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Studies have shown the importance of vascular risk factors in the pathogenesis and evolution of cognitive disorders and dementia especially among the very elderly. The aim of the present longitudinal 1-year cohort analysis was to evaluate the influence of arterial stiffness on cognitive decline in institutionalized subjects older than 80 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nursing homes in France and Italy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 873 subjects (79% women), aged 87 ± 5 years were included in this longitudinal analysis from the PARTAGE cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  All completed the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) on the 2 visits over 1 year and underwent a measurement of carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), an indicator of aortic stiffness. Clinical and 3-day self-measurements of blood pressure (BP) and activities of daily living (ADL) were evaluated at baseline visit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  According to PWV tertiles and after adjustment for baseline MMSE, mean BP (MBP), age, education level, and ADL, Δ MMSE was -1.42 ± 3.60 in the first tertile, -1.78 ± 4.08 in the second tertile, and -2.20 ± 3.98 in the third tertile (P < .03). Similar analyses with self-measured MBP failed to show any association between BP on MMSE decline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This 1-year longitudinal study in institutionalized patients older than 80 years shows that the higher the aortic stiffness, the more pronounced the decline in cognitive function. These results point out the interest of measuring PWV, a simple noninvasive and validated method for arterial stiffness assessment, to detect high-risk patients for cognitive decline.
authors: Department of Geriatrics and Memory Clinique (CMRR), University Hospital of Nancy, Nancy, France. a.benetos@chu-nancy.fr
authors: Athanase
authors: A
authors: Benetos
authors: Ghassan
authors: G
authors: Watfa
authors: Olivier
authors: O
authors: Hanon
authors: Paolo
authors: P
authors: Salvi
authors: Francesco
authors: F
authors: Fantin
authors: Olivier
authors: O
authors: Toulza
authors: Patrick
authors: P
authors: Manckoundia
authors: Davide
authors: D
authors: Agnoletti
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Labat
authors: Sylvie
authors: S
authors: Gautier
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000379:methods; D003072:Cognition Disorders; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011674:Pulse; D059289:Vascular Stiffness