Association Between Accelerated Multimorbidity and Age-Related Cognitive Decline in Older Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging Participants without Dementia

Elisa Fabbri; Yang An; Marco Zoli; Toshiko Tanaka; Eleanor M. Simonsick; Melissa H. Kitner-Triolo; Stephanie A. Studenski; Susan M. Resnick; Luigi Ferrucci

doi:10.1111/jgs.14092

Association Between Accelerated Multimorbidity and Age-Related Cognitive Decline in Older Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging Participants without Dementia

Elisa Fabbri, Yang An, Marco Zoli, Toshiko Tanaka, Eleanor M. Simonsick, Melissa H. Kitner-Triolo, Stephanie A. Studenski, Susan M. Resnick, Luigi Ferrucci

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

41 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objectives: To explore the association between rate of physical health deterioration, operationalized as rising multimorbidity overtime, and longitudinal decline in cognitive function in older adults without dementia. Design: Longitudinal (Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA)). Setting: Community. Participants: BLSA participants aged 65 and older followed for an average of 3 years and free of dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) at baseline and follow-up (N = 756). Measurements: Standardized neurocognitive tests evaluating mental status, memory, executive function, processing speed, and verbal fluency were administered. Multimorbidity was assessed at each visit as number of diagnosed chronic diseases from a predefined list. Faster accumulation of chronic diseases was defined as upper quartile of rate of change in number of diseases over time (≥0.25 diseases/year). Results: Faster accumulation of chronic diseases was significantly associated with greater rate of decline on the Category (P =.01) and Letter (P =.01) Fluency Tests. Similar trends were also found for the Trail-Making Test Parts A (P =.08) and B (P =.07); no association was found with rate of change in visual and verbal memory. Conclusion: Although further investigations are required to validate the results and fully understand the underlying mechanisms, these findings suggest that accelerated deterioration of physical health is associated with accelerated decline with aging in specific cognitive domains in older adults without dementia.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	965-972
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
Volume	64
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.14092
State	Published - May 1 2016
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

aging
cognition
cognitive decline
multimorbidity
older adults

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geriatrics and Gerontology

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10.1111/jgs.14092

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Fabbri, E., An, Y., Zoli, M., Tanaka, T., Simonsick, E. M., Kitner-Triolo, M. H., Studenski, S. A., Resnick, S. M., & Ferrucci, L. (2016). Association Between Accelerated Multimorbidity and Age-Related Cognitive Decline in Older Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging Participants without Dementia. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 64(5), 965-972. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.14092

Fabbri, E, An, Y, Zoli, M, Tanaka, T, Simonsick, EM, Kitner-Triolo, MH, Studenski, SA, Resnick, SM & Ferrucci, L 2016, 'Association Between Accelerated Multimorbidity and Age-Related Cognitive Decline in Older Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging Participants without Dementia', Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, vol. 64, no. 5, pp. 965-972. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.14092

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title = "Association Between Accelerated Multimorbidity and Age-Related Cognitive Decline in Older Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging Participants without Dementia",

abstract = "Objectives: To explore the association between rate of physical health deterioration, operationalized as rising multimorbidity overtime, and longitudinal decline in cognitive function in older adults without dementia. Design: Longitudinal (Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA)). Setting: Community. Participants: BLSA participants aged 65 and older followed for an average of 3 years and free of dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) at baseline and follow-up (N = 756). Measurements: Standardized neurocognitive tests evaluating mental status, memory, executive function, processing speed, and verbal fluency were administered. Multimorbidity was assessed at each visit as number of diagnosed chronic diseases from a predefined list. Faster accumulation of chronic diseases was defined as upper quartile of rate of change in number of diseases over time (≥0.25 diseases/year). Results: Faster accumulation of chronic diseases was significantly associated with greater rate of decline on the Category (P =.01) and Letter (P =.01) Fluency Tests. Similar trends were also found for the Trail-Making Test Parts A (P =.08) and B (P =.07); no association was found with rate of change in visual and verbal memory. Conclusion: Although further investigations are required to validate the results and fully understand the underlying mechanisms, these findings suggest that accelerated deterioration of physical health is associated with accelerated decline with aging in specific cognitive domains in older adults without dementia.",

keywords = "aging, cognition, cognitive decline, multimorbidity, older adults",

author = "Elisa Fabbri and Yang An and Marco Zoli and Toshiko Tanaka and Simonsick, {Eleanor M.} and Kitner-Triolo, {Melissa H.} and Studenski, {Stephanie A.} and Resnick, {Susan M.} and Luigi Ferrucci",

note = "Funding Information: This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging (NIA). Data for these analyses were obtained BLSA, a study performed by NIA (Grant 03-AG-0325). Conflict of Interest: The editor in chief has reviewed the conflict of interest checklist provided by the authors and has determined that the authors have no financial or any other kind of personal conflicts with this paper. Author Contributions: All authors contributed to this paper. Sponsor's Role: None. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2016, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation {\textcopyright} 2016, The American Geriatrics Society",

year = "2016",

month = may,

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doi = "10.1111/jgs.14092",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "64",

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T1 - Association Between Accelerated Multimorbidity and Age-Related Cognitive Decline in Older Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging Participants without Dementia

AU - Fabbri, Elisa

AU - An, Yang

AU - Zoli, Marco

AU - Tanaka, Toshiko

AU - Simonsick, Eleanor M.

AU - Kitner-Triolo, Melissa H.

AU - Studenski, Stephanie A.

AU - Resnick, Susan M.

AU - Ferrucci, Luigi

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging (NIA). Data for these analyses were obtained BLSA, a study performed by NIA (Grant 03-AG-0325). Conflict of Interest: The editor in chief has reviewed the conflict of interest checklist provided by the authors and has determined that the authors have no financial or any other kind of personal conflicts with this paper. Author Contributions: All authors contributed to this paper. Sponsor's Role: None. Publisher Copyright: © 2016, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2016, The American Geriatrics Society

PY - 2016/5/1

Y1 - 2016/5/1

N2 - Objectives: To explore the association between rate of physical health deterioration, operationalized as rising multimorbidity overtime, and longitudinal decline in cognitive function in older adults without dementia. Design: Longitudinal (Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA)). Setting: Community. Participants: BLSA participants aged 65 and older followed for an average of 3 years and free of dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) at baseline and follow-up (N = 756). Measurements: Standardized neurocognitive tests evaluating mental status, memory, executive function, processing speed, and verbal fluency were administered. Multimorbidity was assessed at each visit as number of diagnosed chronic diseases from a predefined list. Faster accumulation of chronic diseases was defined as upper quartile of rate of change in number of diseases over time (≥0.25 diseases/year). Results: Faster accumulation of chronic diseases was significantly associated with greater rate of decline on the Category (P =.01) and Letter (P =.01) Fluency Tests. Similar trends were also found for the Trail-Making Test Parts A (P =.08) and B (P =.07); no association was found with rate of change in visual and verbal memory. Conclusion: Although further investigations are required to validate the results and fully understand the underlying mechanisms, these findings suggest that accelerated deterioration of physical health is associated with accelerated decline with aging in specific cognitive domains in older adults without dementia.

AB - Objectives: To explore the association between rate of physical health deterioration, operationalized as rising multimorbidity overtime, and longitudinal decline in cognitive function in older adults without dementia. Design: Longitudinal (Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA)). Setting: Community. Participants: BLSA participants aged 65 and older followed for an average of 3 years and free of dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) at baseline and follow-up (N = 756). Measurements: Standardized neurocognitive tests evaluating mental status, memory, executive function, processing speed, and verbal fluency were administered. Multimorbidity was assessed at each visit as number of diagnosed chronic diseases from a predefined list. Faster accumulation of chronic diseases was defined as upper quartile of rate of change in number of diseases over time (≥0.25 diseases/year). Results: Faster accumulation of chronic diseases was significantly associated with greater rate of decline on the Category (P =.01) and Letter (P =.01) Fluency Tests. Similar trends were also found for the Trail-Making Test Parts A (P =.08) and B (P =.07); no association was found with rate of change in visual and verbal memory. Conclusion: Although further investigations are required to validate the results and fully understand the underlying mechanisms, these findings suggest that accelerated deterioration of physical health is associated with accelerated decline with aging in specific cognitive domains in older adults without dementia.

KW - aging

KW - cognition

KW - cognitive decline

KW - multimorbidity

KW - older adults

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Association Between Accelerated Multimorbidity and Age-Related Cognitive Decline in Older Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging Participants without Dementia

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