Framingham vascular age is associated with worse cognitive performance in the middle-aged and elderly

ABSTRACT

“Normal” age-related cognitive decline has been associated with cardiovascular risk factors. Framingham Vascular Age is age-normed cardiovascular risk which may help communicate risk to patients and identify those at relatively higher risk. We aim to assess the association between Framingham Vascular Age and cognition. 346 “healthy” participants (57±10 years) without neuropsychiatric disorders or clinical manifestations of cardiovascular disease were studied. Cognition was evaluated using the Brief Memory and Executive Test and Framingham Vascular Age was calculated. The association between Framingham Vascular Age and cognitive performance was determined through General Linear Models to control for covariates. Framingham Vascular age was associated with poorer Memory and Executive Function/Processing Speed indices (p= 0.019 and p<0.001, respectively). We conclude Framingham Vascular Age is associated with worse Executive Function/Processing Speed and Memory. Vascular Age may help identify patients at higher risk of age-related cognitive decline with implications for communicating the morbidity associated with cardiovascular risk.

KEYWORDS:

• Age-related cognitive decline
• vascular age
• brief memory and executive test
• Framingham
• screening

Acknowledgments

We thank the staff at centers in Aberdeen, Cambridge, Nottingham, and St George’s London for recruiting participants for this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Stroke Association under Grant TSA 2010/08; British Heart Foundation under Grant PG/13/30/30005. Hugh Markus is supported by a National Institute for Health Research Senior Investigator award and his work is supported by the Cambridge University Hospitals Trust National Institute for Health Research Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre.