Blood pressure variability and dementia rating scale performance in older adults with cardiovascular disease

Therese Anne KEARY; John GUNSTAD; Athena POPPAS; Robert H PAUL; Angela L JEFFERSON; Karin F HOTH; Lawrence H SWEET; Daniel E FORMAN; Ronald A COHEN

doi:10.1097/WNN.0b013e3180335f9f

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Blood pressure variability and dementia rating scale performance in older adults with cardiovascular disease

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Blood pressure variability and dementia rating scale performance in older adults with cardiovascular disease

Therese Anne KEARY, John GUNSTAD, Athena POPPAS, Robert H PAUL, Angela L JEFFERSON, Karin F HOTH, Lawrence H SWEET, Daniel E FORMAN and Ronald A COHEN

Cognitive and behavioral neurology, Vol.20(1), pp.73-77

2007

DOI: 10.1097/WNN.0b013e3180335f9f

PMID: 17356348

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Abstract

Objective: The present study examined the relationship between multiple indices of blood pressure (BP) and cognitive function (as measured by the Dementia Rating Scale). Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is associated with cognitive dysfunction and cerebrovascular pathology in the elderly and is a known risk factor for stroke and Alzheimer disease. Yet, the mechanisms for the effects of CVD on cognitive function are not well understood. Methods: Participants were 97 nondemented older adults with CVD who underwent neuropsychologic assessment, and a 2-hour cardiovascular laboratory protocol. Results: After controlling for age and years of education, results of hierarchical linear regression analyses indicate a significant positive relationship between a function of BP variability (SD of systolic BP divided by the average diastolic BP) and cognitive function (R change=0.042, F (1, 85)=5.434, P<0.05). No relationship emerged between any other BP index and cognitive function. Conclusions: Contrary to expectations, greater BP variability was associated with better, not poorer, cognitive test performance. These findings suggest that the relationship between BP and cognitive function is more complicated than originally conceptualized and requires further investigation.

Neurology

Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology

Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry

Adult and adolescent clinical studies

Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases

Psychopathology. Psychiatry

Biological and medical sciences

Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system

Medical sciences

Details

Title: Subtitle: Blood pressure variability and dementia rating scale performance in older adults with cardiovascular disease
Creators: Therese Anne KEARY - Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States
John GUNSTAD - Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, United States
Athena POPPAS - Department of Cardiology, Rhode Island Medical Center, Providence, RI, United States
Robert H PAUL - Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown Medical School, Providence, RI, United States
Angela L JEFFERSON - Department of Neurology, Alzheimer's Disease Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States
Karin F HOTH - Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown Medical School, Providence, RI, United States
Lawrence H SWEET - Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown Medical School, Providence, RI, United States
Daniel E FORMAN - Division of Cardiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, United States
Ronald A COHEN - Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown Medical School, Providence, RI, United States
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Cognitive and behavioral neurology, Vol.20(1), pp.73-77
Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Willkins; Hagerstown, MD
DOI: 10.1097/WNN.0b013e3180335f9f
PMID: 17356348
ISSN: 1543-3633
eISSN: 1543-3641
Language: English
Date published: 2007
Academic Unit: Psychiatry; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984066387002771

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