The Test Your Memory cognitive screening tool: sociodemographic and cardiometabolic risk correlates in a population-based study of older British men.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to examine the association of Test Your Memory (TYM)-defined cognitive impairment groups with known sociodemographic and cardiometabolic correlates of cognitive impairment in a population-based study of older adults.


METHODS
Participants were members of the British Regional Heart Study, a cohort across 24 British towns initiated in 1978-1980. Data stemmed from 1570 British men examined in 2010-2012, aged 71-92 years. Sociodemographic and cardiometabolic factors were compared between participants defined as having TYM scores in the normal cognitive ageing, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and severe cognitive impairment (SCI) groups, defined as ≥46 (45 if ≥80 years of age), ≥33 and <33, respectively.


RESULTS
Among 1570 men, 636 (41%) were classified in the MCI and 133 (8%) in the SCI groups. Compared with participants in the normal cognitive ageing category, individuals with SCI were characterized primarily by lower socio-economic position (odds ratio (OR) = 6.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.00-9.46), slower average walking speed (OR = 3.36, 95% CI 2.21-5.10), mobility problems (OR = 4.61, 95% CI 3.04-6.97), poorer self-reported overall health (OR = 2.63, 95% CI 1.79-3.87), obesity (OR = 2.59, 95% CI 1.72-3.91) and impaired lung function (OR = 2.25, 95% CI 1.47-3.45). A similar albeit slightly weaker pattern was observed for participants with MCI.


CONCLUSIONS
Sociodemographic and lifestyle factors as well as adiposity measures, lung function and poor overall health are associated with cognitive impairments in late life. The correlates of cognitive abilities in the MCI and SCI groups, as defined by the TYM, resemble the risk profile for MCI and Alzheimer's disease outlined in current epidemiological models.
Department of Primary Care and Population Health, UCL, London, UK.
Efstathios
E
Papachristou
Department of Primary Care and Population Health, UCL, London, UK.
Sheena E
SE
Ramsay
Department of Primary Care and Population Health, UCL, London, UK.
Olia
O
Papacosta
Department of Primary Care and Population Health, UCL, London, UK.
Lucy T
LT
Lennon
Department of Primary Care and Population Health, UCL, London, UK.
Steve
S
Iliffe
Population Health Research Institute, St George's, University of London, London, UK.
Peter H
PH
Whincup
Department of Primary Care and Population Health, UCL, London, UK.
S
S
Goya Wannamethee
D050154:Adiposity / Q000502:physiology; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D006113:United Kingdom; D055105:Waist Circumference / Q000502:physiology
TYM; ageing; cognition; cognitive impairments