UMass Chan Medical School Faculty Publications
Title
Predictors of Optimal Cognitive Aging in 80+ Women: The Women's Health Initiative Memory Study
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Medicine, Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine; UMass Worcester Prevention Research Center
Publication Date
2016-03-01
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Geriatrics | Women's Health
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Independent predictors of preserved cognitive functioning and factors associated with maintaining high preserved cognitive function in women > /= 80 years remain elusive.
METHODS: Two thousand two hundred twenty-eight women with a mean age of 85 years who participated in the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study were classified as cognitively normal (n = 1,905, 85.5%), mild cognitive impairment (n = 88, 3.9%), dementia (n = 121, 5.4%) or other cognitive impairment (n = 114, n = 5.1%) by central adjudication. Global cognitive functioning was assessed using telephone interview for cognitive status-modified in those women who did not meet cognitive impairment criteria. Differences between women grouped by cognitive status with respect to each potential risk factor were assessed using chi-squared tests and t-tests. Backward stepwise logistic regression was used to select factors that were independently associated with cognitive status.
RESULTS: Factors associated with preserved cognitive functioning were younger age, higher education, and family incomes, being non-Hispanic white, better emotional wellbeing, fewer depressive symptoms, more insomnia complaints, being free of diabetes, and not carrying the apolipoprotein E-epsilon 4 allele. Cognitively normal women who demonstrated sustained high preserved cognition were younger, more educated, and endorsed better self-reported general health, emotional wellbeing, and higher physical functioning.
CONCLUSIONS: Addressing sociodemographic disparities such as income inequality, and targeting interventions to improve depressive symptoms and vascular risk factors, including diabetes, may play an important role in preserving cognition among women who survive to 80 years of age. Person-centered approaches that combine interventions to improve physical, cognitive, and psychosocial functioning may promote maintenance of high preserved cognitive health in the oldest-old.
Keywords
Cognition, Cognitive aging, Successful aging
DOI of Published Version
10.1093/gerona/glv055
Source
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2016 Mar;71 Suppl 1:S62-71. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glv055. Link to article on publisher's site
Related Resources
Journal/Book/Conference Title
The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences
PubMed ID
26858326
Repository Citation
Goveas JS, Ockene JK. (2016). Predictors of Optimal Cognitive Aging in 80+ Women: The Women's Health Initiative Memory Study. UMass Chan Medical School Faculty Publications. https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glv055. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/faculty_pubs/1161
Comments
Full author list omitted for brevity. For full list of authors see article.