title: The association between pulse wave velocity and cognitive function: the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a measure of arterial stiffness and its increase with ageing has been associated with damage to cerebral microvessels and cognitive impairment. This study examined the relationship between carotid-femoral PWV and specific domains of cognitive function in a non-demented elderly sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were drawn from the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study, a cohort study of non-demented community-dwelling individuals aged 70-90 years, assessed in successive waves two years apart. In Wave 2, PWV and cognitive function were measured in 319 participants. Linear regression was used to analyse the cross-sectional relationship between arterial stiffness and cognitive function in the whole sample, and separately for men and women. Analysis of covariance was used to assess potential differences in cognition between subjects with PWV measurements in the top and bottom tertiles of the cohort. Covariates were age, education, body mass index, pulse rate, systolic blood pressure, cholesterol, depression, alcohol, smoking, hormone replacement therapy, apolipoprotein E ε4 genotype, use of anti-hypertensive medications, history of stroke, transient ischemic attack, myocardial infarction, angina, diabetes, and also sex for the whole sample analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no association between PWV and cognition after Bonferroni correction for multiple testing. When examining this association for males and females separately, an association was found in males, with higher PWV being associated with lower global cognition and memory, however, a significant difference between PWV and cognition between males and females was not found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A higher level of PWV was not associated with lower cognitive function in the whole sample.
authors: Brain and Aging Research Program, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors: Joel
authors: J
authors: Singer
authors: Julian N
authors: JN
authors: Trollor
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Crawford
authors: Michael F
authors: MF
authors: O'Rourke
authors: Bernhard T
authors: BT
authors: Baune
authors: Henry
authors: H
authors: Brodaty
authors: Katherine
authors: K
authors: Samaras
authors: Nicole A
authors: NA
authors: Kochan
authors: Lesley
authors: L
authors: Campbell
authors: Perminder S
authors: PS
authors: Sachdev
authors: Evelyn
authors: E
authors: Smith
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D059289:Vascular Stiffness
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