UMMS Affiliation
Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences; Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
Publication Date
2021-07-31
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Cardiology | Cardiovascular Diseases | Epidemiology | Race and Ethnicity
Abstract
Background: Non-Whites are more likely to suffer from cognitive impairment and complications of atrial fibrillation (AF) than Whites, though Whites are more likely to be diagnosed with AF. We examined whether non-Whites with AF are biologically older than Whites with AF and whether accelerated biological aging is associated with cognitive functioning.
Methods: We used baseline data from the ongoing Systematic Assessment of Geriatric Elements in Atrial Fibrillation prospective cohort study, collected 2016-2020 across ambulatory care practices in Massachusetts and Georgia. Of 1244 enrolled, 974 participants with full biological data were included in the present analysis. Accelerated aging (AccA) was calculated based on a combination of biomarkers associated with age and physiological "wear and tear."
Findings: The main outcome was score on Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Non-Whites had 2.9 years more AccA than Whites and higher AccA was associated with a lower MoCA score among both Whites (-0.06, 95% CI: -0.10, -0.03) and non-Whites (-0.14, 95% CI: -0.27, 0.02). This association was significantly greater among non-whites (-0.11, 95% CI: -0.20, -0.01).
Interpretation: Non-White AF patients are functionally "older" than their White counterparts and experience a stronger deleterious association between AccA and cognition. These findings underscore the importance of taking functional age into account when treating patients with AF, particularly non-White patients, to enhance treatment and improve AF outcomes.
Keywords
atrial fibrillation, biological aging, non-whites
Rights and Permissions
Copyright © 2021 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101060
Source
Forrester SN, McManus DD, Saczynski JS, Pierre-Louis IC, Bamgbade BA, Kiefe CI. A cross-sectional analysis of racial differences in accelerated aging and cognitive function among patients with atrial fibrillation: The SAGE-AF study: Forrester, Accelerated aging and cognitive function. EClinicalMedicine. 2021 Jul 31;39:101060. doi: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101060. PMID: 34386761; PMCID: PMC8342899. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
EClinicalMedicine
PubMed ID
34386761
Related Resources
Repository Citation
Forrester SN, McManus DD, Saczynski JS, Pierre-Louis IC, Bamgbade BA, Kiefe CI. (2021). A cross-sectional analysis of racial differences in accelerated aging and cognitive function among patients with atrial fibrillation: The SAGE-AF study: Forrester, Accelerated aging and cognitive function. Population and Quantitative Health Sciences Publications. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.101060. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/qhs_pp/1420
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Included in
Cardiology Commons, Cardiovascular Diseases Commons, Epidemiology Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons