title: Duration of hypertension is associated with cognitive function: a cross-sectional study in Chinese adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension (HTN) is a very prevalent public health problem and as the population ages, cognitive impairment (CI) is also going to be a public health burden. However, the relationship between hypertension duration and cognitive function declination worldwide is still unknown. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of HTN duration on CI in Chinese population.
  
  
  METHODS
  At baseline, 1 386 HTN patients and 293 normotensive (NT) people were enrolled. The HTN patients were further divided into four subgroups (duration of HTN <6 years, 6-10 years, 11-20 years, and >20 years) according to the HTN duration and were screened for cognitive function with neuropsychological tests including mini-mental-state-examination (MMSE) and clock-drawing-test (CDT) in comparison with the NT group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More HTN patients had CI (45.3%) than NT subjects (30.4%), and increased with HTN duration (P < 0.000 1). Compared with the scores of MMSE and CDT in the NT group, the declines were higher in the HTN patients (P < 0.000 1), and in the four HTN subgroups, both MMSE and CDT scores fall when the HTN duration increased (P < 0.05). Furthermore, in the HTN population without CI, the trend in alteration of CI was relatively mild but still existed (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  People with HTN are more likely to have CI and the possibility and aggravation increases the prolongation of HTN duration, both in amnesic and nonamnesic function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Changzheng Hospital, Shanghai 200001, China.
authors.forename: Tuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Changhai Hospital, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, 208 Hospital, Shengyang, Liaoning 130000, China.
authors.forename: Junwu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Statistics, Second Military Medical University, Shanhgai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Changhai Hospital, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatrics, Changhai Hospital, Shanghai 200433, China. Email: xptuo_01@163.com.
authors.forename: Xiping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Changzheng Hospital, Shanghai 200001, China. Email: zhaozxn@163.com.
authors.forename: Zhongxin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged