CORRELATES OF COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN MIDDLE-AGED ADULTS

The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study administered cognitive f unction tests to more than 14,000 middle-aged adults in 1990-1992. The battery included the Delayed Word Recall test, the Digit Symbol Subte st of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised, and the Controlle d Oral Word Association (Word Fluency) test. Test performance was corr elated positively with education level, negatively with age, was bette r in women than in men, and better in managers/professionals compared with other occupations. After controlling for these factors, race and community, the findings most consistent for both sexes were that Delay ed Word Recall was negatively associated with depressive symptoms, dia betes, and fibrinogen level; the Digit Symbol Subtest was associated w ith marital status, negatively associated with depressive symptoms, sm oking status, fibrinogen level, and carotid intima-media thickness, an d positively associated with alcohol drinking and FEV1; and the Word F luency test was positively associated with marital status, alcohol dri nking, sports participation, and FEV1. Most of these cross-sectional r esults were in the predicted direction and have biologic plausibility, but mean differences between extreme categories were small (generally on the order of 0.1 to 0.2 of a standard deviation). Longitudinal stu dy is warranted to evaluate whether small differences in middle-age le ad to larger, clinically meaningful deficits with aging.