Variables associated with cognitive function in elderly California Seventh-day Adventists

Abstract

From a cohort of white, non-Hispanic California Seventh-day Adventists, 99 subjects over age 75 years in 1991 were randomly selected. Dietary habits and educational status had been measured in 1976. Subjects completed the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in 1991, and at that time, they or caregivers also gave information on current medical problems and drug therapy. Those who ate more calories in 1976 had lower MMSE scores in 1991 (p = 0.03), an association strengthened by excluding those with previous stroke or Parkinson's disease by 1991. This raises the possibility that higher consumption of calories in middle age may accelerate the decline in cognitive function seen with aging, as apparently occurs in some animals. Less-educated subjects had lower MMSE scores, especially among the very elderly. The statistical model predicts that the negative association between use of psychotropic drugs and MMSE score (p = 0.004) is particularly potent in those cognitively impaired for other reasons. If causal, this suggests that physicians should use these agents very cautiously in such subjects.

FIGURE 1

Distribution of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores in a sample of elderly California Adventists.

FIGURE 2

Predicted effect of education on Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score at three ages in a sample of elderly California Adventists. The model includes age, sex, education, education × age, exercise, number of chronic diseases, use of psychoactive medications, and total energy intake.