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Meta-Analysis
. 2019 Jul 23;16(7):e1002853.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002853. eCollection 2019 Jul.

Determinants of cognitive performance and decline in 20 diverse ethno-regional groups: A COSMIC collaboration cohort study

Darren M Lipnicki  1 Steve R Makkar  1 John D Crawford  1 Anbupalam Thalamuthu  1 Nicole A Kochan  1 Maria Fernanda Lima-Costa  2 Erico Castro-Costa  2 Cleusa Pinheiro Ferri  3 Carol Brayne  4 Blossom Stephan  5 Juan J Llibre-Rodriguez  6 Jorge J Llibre-Guerra  7   8 Adolfo J Valhuerdi-Cepero  9 Richard B Lipton  10   11   12 Mindy J Katz  10 Carol A Derby  10   11 Karen Ritchie  13   14   15 Marie-Laure Ancelin  13   14 Isabelle Carrière  13   14 Nikolaos Scarmeas  16   17 Mary Yannakoulia  18 Georgios M Hadjigeorgiou  19   20 Linda Lam  21 Wai-Chi Chan  22 Ada Fung  23 Antonio Guaita  24 Roberta Vaccaro  24 Annalisa Davin  24 Ki Woong Kim  25   26   27 Ji Won Han  25 Seung Wan Suh  25 Steffi G Riedel-Heller  28 Susanne Roehr  28 Alexander Pabst  28 Martin van Boxtel  29 Sebastian Köhler  29 Kay Deckers  29 Mary Ganguli  30   31   32 Erin P Jacobsen  30 Tiffany F Hughes  33 Kaarin J Anstey  34   35   36 Nicolas Cherbuin  36 Mary N Haan  37 Allison E Aiello  38   39 Kristina Dang  37 Shuzo Kumagai  40 Tao Chen  40 Kenji Narazaki  41 Tze Pin Ng  42 Qi Gao  42 Ma Shwe Zin Nyunt  43 Marcia Scazufca  44 Henry Brodaty  1   45 Katya Numbers  1 Julian N Trollor  1   46 Kenichi Meguro  47 Satoshi Yamaguchi  47 Hiroshi Ishii  47 Antonio Lobo  48   49   50 Raul Lopez-Anton  49   50   51 Javier Santabárbara  49   50   52 Yvonne Leung  1 Jessica W Lo  1 Gordana Popovic  1   53 Perminder S Sachdev  1   45 for Cohort Studies of Memory in an International Consortium (COSMIC)
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Determinants of cognitive performance and decline in 20 diverse ethno-regional groups: A COSMIC collaboration cohort study

Darren M Lipnicki et al. PLoS Med. .

Abstract

Background: With no effective treatments for cognitive decline or dementia, improving the evidence base for modifiable risk factors is a research priority. This study investigated associations between risk factors and late-life cognitive decline on a global scale, including comparisons between ethno-regional groups.

Methods and findings: We harmonized longitudinal data from 20 population-based cohorts from 15 countries over 5 continents, including 48,522 individuals (58.4% women) aged 54-105 (mean = 72.7) years and without dementia at baseline. Studies had 2-15 years of follow-up. The risk factors investigated were age, sex, education, alcohol consumption, anxiety, apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (APOE*4) status, atrial fibrillation, blood pressure and pulse pressure, body mass index, cardiovascular disease, depression, diabetes, self-rated health, high cholesterol, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, physical activity, smoking, and history of stroke. Associations with risk factors were determined for a global cognitive composite outcome (memory, language, processing speed, and executive functioning tests) and Mini-Mental State Examination score. Individual participant data meta-analyses of multivariable linear mixed model results pooled across cohorts revealed that for at least 1 cognitive outcome, age (B = -0.1, SE = 0.01), APOE*4 carriage (B = -0.31, SE = 0.11), depression (B = -0.11, SE = 0.06), diabetes (B = -0.23, SE = 0.10), current smoking (B = -0.20, SE = 0.08), and history of stroke (B = -0.22, SE = 0.09) were independently associated with poorer cognitive performance (p < 0.05 for all), and higher levels of education (B = 0.12, SE = 0.02) and vigorous physical activity (B = 0.17, SE = 0.06) were associated with better performance (p < 0.01 for both). Age (B = -0.07, SE = 0.01), APOE*4 carriage (B = -0.41, SE = 0.18), and diabetes (B = -0.18, SE = 0.10) were independently associated with faster cognitive decline (p < 0.05 for all). Different effects between Asian people and white people included stronger associations for Asian people between ever smoking and poorer cognition (group by risk factor interaction: B = -0.24, SE = 0.12), and between diabetes and cognitive decline (B = -0.66, SE = 0.27; p < 0.05 for both). Limitations of our study include a loss or distortion of risk factor data with harmonization, and not investigating factors at midlife.

Conclusions: These results suggest that education, smoking, physical activity, diabetes, and stroke are all modifiable factors associated with cognitive decline. If these factors are determined to be causal, controlling them could minimize worldwide levels of cognitive decline. However, any global prevention strategy may need to consider ethno-regional differences.

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Conflict of interest statement

I have read the journal's policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: AEA is a consultant for Kinsa Inc. and has received an unrestricted gift from Gojo Inc. CB is a member of the Editorial Board of PLOS Medicine. HB is on the Advisory Board of Nutricia Australia. MG was on Biogen Inc’s “Patient Journey Advisory Group” in 2016 and 2017. NS reports personal fees from Merck Consumer Health and the NIH outside the submitted work. RBL is the Edwin S. Lowe Professor of Neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. He receives research support from the NIH: 2PO1 AG003949 (mPI), 5U10 NS077308 (PI), RO1 NS082432 (Investigator), 1RF1 AG057531 (Site PI), RF1 AG054548 (Investigator), 1RO1 AG048642 (Investigator), R56 AG057548 (Investigator), K23 NS09610 (Mentor), K23AG049466 (Mentor), 1K01AG054700 (Mentor). He also receives support from the Migraine Research Foundation and the National Headache Foundation. He serves on the editorial board of Neurology, senior advisor to Headache, and associate editor to Cephalalgia. He has reviewed for the NIA and NINDS, holds stock options in eNeura Therapeutics and Biohaven Holdings; serves as consultant, advisory board member, or has received honoraria from: American Academy of Neurology, Alder, Allergan, American Headache Society, Amgen, Autonomic Technologies, Avanir, Biohaven, Biovision, Boston Scientific, Dr. Reddy’s, Electrocore, Eli Lilly, eNeura Therapeutics, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pernix, Pfizer, Supernus, Teva, Trigemina, Vector, Vedanta. He receives royalties from Wolff’s Headache 7th and 8th Edition, Oxford Press University, 2009, Wiley and Informa. PSS received grant funding from the NIH/NIA (USA) and the NHMRC (Australia), as well as philanthropic funding through The Dementia Momentum. He is on the Australian Advisory Board of Biogen Pharmaceuticals. All other authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Risk factors for cognitive performance that differ between Asian people and white people.
Bars show standardized scores at the mean time in study (3.1 years) for participants with and without the risk factor in both groups: Asian people and white people. Error bars indicate standard error of the mean. Mean Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) performance is compared for smokers and non-smokers (A), participants with poor versus very good self-rated health (B), and apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (APOE*4) carriers and non-carriers (C). (D) compares the mean performance for the global cognition composite (calculated from tests of 4 cognitive domains) in men and women.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Risk factors for cognitive decline that differ between Asian people and white people.
Fitted trajectories are for the first half decade since baseline, and show mean changes in standardized Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores for both groups: Asian people and white people. (A) compares participants with and without high cholesterol, and (B) compares participants with and without diabetes. (C) compares participants with high and low levels of education, determined as 1 standard deviation (4.5 years) above and below the mean of 9 years, respectively.

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