CORRELATES OF COGNITIVE STATUS OF OLD PATIENTS WITH ISOLATED SYSTOLICHYPERTENSION - THE SYST-EUR VASCULAR DEMENTIA PROJECT

Objective To assess cognitive functions and their correlates for a dem entia-free cohort of old patients with isolated systolic hypertension. Design Cross-sectional data from the randomization period of the Euro pean Trial in Elderly with Systolic Hypertension (Syst-Eur Vascular De mentia Project), Setting Sixteen European countries and Israel. Partic ipants We studied 2252 patients aged 60-100 years (mean 70). Main outc ome measures Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Spearman correla tion of MMSE scores to demographic data or blood pressure. Results The MMSE was successfully completed for 1474 women and 751 men. The basel ine blood pressure averaged 173 +/- 10/86 +/- 6 mmHg (means +/- SD). M edian age at which education of patients at school had stopped was 15 years. Men and women who consumed alcohol (28%) had median intakes of 8 and 3 g/day, respectively, The median MMSE score was 29 (range 15-30 ). The maximum score of 30 was attained by 609 (30%) subjects. Fifty-n ine (3%) patients had a MMSE score of 23 or less. The MMSE score decre ased with advancing age (r= -0.21, P< 0.001), Both for men and for wom en, it was positively correlated to the level of education (r = 0.30 a nd r = 0.32, P < 0.001). For women after adjustment for age and the le vel of education, the scare was correlated negatively to systolic bloo d pressure (r = -0.07, P < 0.05) but positively to intake of alcohol ( r = 0.06, P< 0.05). Conclusion In a cohort of elderly patients with is olated systolic hypertension, baseline cognitive function measured in terms of the MMSE score was high, probably due to selective recruitmen t of patients who were not clinically demented. Blood pressure was a w eak contributor to cognitive status compared with age and level of edu cation. Baseline cognitive function of women was negatively and indepe ndently correlated to systolic blood pressure. I Hypertens 16:963-969 (C) 1998 Lippincott-Raven Publishers.