Vascular risk factor variability and cognitive impairment in older adults a community-based retrospective study

The association between vascular risk factors and cognitive performance has been a topic of considerable interest. Nevertheless, the connection between vascular risk factors and cognitive impairment in the elderly population continues to be ambiguous. From January to April 2022, participants aged 65 years and older were recruited in the community. A retrospective review of data was conducted, those who underwent at least three discrete health assessments between 2018 and 2021 were included in the study. Cognitive function was evaluated in 2022 by Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) in the Chinese version. Logistic regression was employed to explore the association of various vascular risk factors (body mass index [BMI], exercise frequency, smoking status, drinking status, systolic blood pressure [SBP], diastolic blood pressure [DBP], total cholesterol [TC], triglycerides [TG], low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C], high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C], fasting plasma glucose [FPG]) and their variability (intra-individual variability across at least four measurement occasions) with cognitive impairment. Odd ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were reported. This study included 1,487 participants. Findings indicated that physical activity and alcohol drinking were inversely related to cognitive impairment risk. Moreover, average DBP, TC, LDL-C, and FPG at follow-up were positively correlated with cognitive impairment risk, while HDL-C was linked to a reduced risk. Variability assessments reflected high variability in DBP, TG, TG, LDL-C, HDL-C, and FPG associated with cognitive impairment development. In this research, we conducted a thorough examination of the relationship between four primary vascular risk factors (11 indicators) and the likelihood of cognitive impairment. Our results indicate that various vascular risk factors are associated with the onset of cognitive impairment in the elderly population. These findings may contribute to the formulation of future guidelines aimed at mitigating the risk of cognitive impairment.