title: Trajectories of Verbal Episodic Memory in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify distinct latent groups of baseline levels and age-related decline in verbal episodic memory in middle-aged and older adults, and to identify factors associated with these trajectories.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal study of six data collections over a period of 10 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based cohort in England.
  
  
  METHODS
  9,515 community-dwelling adults aged 50-79 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six repeated measurements of immediate and delayed recall of 10 words over 10-year follow-up. Group-based trajectory modeling was used to identify patterns of baseline levels and subsequent decline in memory in two age categories (50-64 and 65-79 years), and to investigate associations between trajectories and baseline predictors of group membership (gender, education, household wealth, marital status, smoking and physical activity) and time-varying covariates (depressive symptoms and number of chronic conditions).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four trajectories were identified and labelled according to baseline status and decline in memory: very low/decline (9.8%), low/stable (40.2%), average/stable (39.5%) and good/stable (10.5%) in the younger group, and very low/rapid decline (15.7%), low/decline (32.0%), average/stable (38.8%), and good/stable (13.5%) in older participants. In people with stable or declining trajectories, a higher number of depressive symptoms and the presence of cardiovascular diseases were associated with worse memory. Female sex, younger age, and higher education, wealth and physical activity were consistently associated with more favourable trajectories.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We identified four memory trajectories. Factors known to be associated with cognitive reserve (such as education, wealth and physical activity) were associated with better memory function while depressive symptoms and cardiovascular disease were associated with poorer memory. This suggests that interventions to reduce depressive symptoms and better manage cardiovascular risk factors and disease in midlife may help prevent or delay future memory decline.
authors.affiliation: Research, Innovation and Teaching Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain.|Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Olaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bobak
authors.affiliation: Research, Innovation and Teaching Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain.|Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Josep Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Haro
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Panayotes
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Demakakos
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: community-dwelling; longitudinal; risk factors; trajectories; verbal episodic memory