What question did this study set out to answer?

The study aims to explore how cardiometabolic burden affects cognitive performance in adults aged 55 and older.

July 6, 2026

Cardiometabolic burden and cognitive profiles in adults 55+

SGStella GarrigaUniversity of Florida Health JBJ H De BlockUniversity of California, Los Angeles LSLauren G SantosUniversity of Florida

Key Points

The study aims to explore how cardiometabolic burden affects cognitive performance in adults aged 55 and older.
Included older adults (N = 4222) from the National Neuropsychology Network.
Assessments of cognitive performance used cognitive measures and structural equation modeling.
Demographic characteristics were adjusted for in the analysis to evaluate associations.
Individuals with one cardiometabolic condition showed reduced attention and working memory performance (p < .001, d = 0.24).
Two conditions resulted in worse cognitive performance across language and executive function domains (p < .01, d = 0.24; p < .001, d = 0.22).
Those with three or more conditions exhibited cognitive decline across most domains with effect sizes between 0.27 and 0.48.

Abstract

Objectives: Cardiometabolic risk factors are prevalent in the United States, and their association with cognitive outcomes is well-established. Opportunities to elucidate the unique and combined contributions of cardiometabolic burden to cognition are abound. Importantly, investigating the cognitive changes incurred as burden increases has scientific and clinical implications. Methods: Older adults (M = 69.3, SD = 8.35) from the National Neuropsychology Network (N = 4222) were included. Cardiometabolic burden, defined via ICD-10 diagnostic codes, and performance on cognitive measures were the primary variables. Domain-level cognitive differences were calculated using a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modeling evaluated associations between cardiometabolic burden and cognition, adjusting for demographic characteristics. Results: Relative to those without cardiometabolic burden, persons with one condition performed worse on measures of attention and working memory (p < .001, d = 0.24) and visuoconstructional and visuoperceptual abilities (p < .01, d = 0.19), persons with two conditions performed worse on measures of language (p < .01, d = 0.24), attention and working memory (p < .01, d = 0.23), executive function (p < .001, d = 0.22), and visuoconstructional and visuoperceptual abilities (p < .01, d = 0.23), and persons with three or more conditions performed worse across all domains except language and immediate memory (drange = 0.27–0.48). The impact of demographic characteristics on cognition differed by domain, but higher education was consistently associated with higher cognitive scores. Conclusions: Cognitive performance declined with increasing cardiometabolic burden. More education was associated with higher cognitive scores. Our findings contribute to the literature linking cardiometabolic risk management and cognitive health. Future studies should investigate whether targeting specific cardiometabolic risk factors would effectively improve cognitive function longitudinally.

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