Why the study?
Does untreated hypertension affect neuropsychological performance differently across age groups in men?
Does untreated hypertension affect neuropsychological performance differently across age groups in men?
Neuropsychological sequelae of untreated hypertension, such as deficits in attention and working memory, appear more pronounced in young men compared to middle-aged men.
Hypertension may link to worse cognition in young men only; hypothesis-generating and leaves open causality plus need for longitudinal studies.
Potentially interactive effects of hypertension and age on the performance of neuropsychological and information processing tests were examined in 123 untreated hypertensive and 50 normotensive men. After covarying education, average alcohol consumption, trait anxiety, and depression scores, results indicated an interaction of age and hypertension. Young hypertensive men (23-40 years) scored significantly worse than young normotensive men on tests of attention/executive function and working memory; middle-aged hypertensive (41-56 years) and normotensive participants were not distinguished by any measures. Hypertensive men performed significantly more poorly than normotensive men on tests of manual dexterity. Results suggest that neuropsychological sequelae of hypertension are more pronounced in young than in middle-aged hypertensive individuals and are independent of various demographic, psychosocial, and alcohol-related factors.
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Waldstein et al. (1996) studied this question.
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