title: The independent association of hypertension with cognitive function among older adults with heart failure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hypertension is the most common comorbidity among heart failure (HF) patients and has been independently linked with cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment is prevalent among HF patients, though the extent to which hypertension contributes to cognitive function in this population is unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  116 HF patients (31.0% women, 67.68 ± 11.16 years) completed neuropsychological testing and impedance cardiography. History of physician diagnosed hypertension, along with other medical characteristics, was ascertained through a review of participants' medical charts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  69.8% of the HF patients had a diagnostic history of hypertension. After adjustment for demographic and medical characteristics (i.e., cardiac index, medication status, and resting blood pressure), hypertension was independently associated with attention/executive function/psychomotor speed (ΔF(1,103)=10.85, ΔR(2)=.07, p<.01) and motor functioning (ΔF(1,103)=4.46, ΔR(2)=.04, p<.05). HF patients with a diagnosed history of hypertension performed worse in these domains than those without such history.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current findings indicate that diagnostic history of hypertension is an important contributor to cognitive impairment in HF. Hypertension frequently precedes HF and future studies should examine whether sustained hypertension compromises cerebral autoregulatory mechanisms to produce brain damage and exacerbate cognitive impairment in this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA. Malosco@kent.edu
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Alosco
authors.forename: Adam M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Brickman
authors.forename: Mary Beth
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Spitznagel
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Dulmen
authors.forename: Naftali
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Raz
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Lawrence H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Sweet
authors.forename: Lisa H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Colbert
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Josephson
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosneck
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gunstad
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002302:Cardiac Output; D002317:Cardiovascular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015984:Causality; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002317:Cardiovascular Agents