Association Between Change in Systolic Blood Pressure and Cognitive Decline Among Elderly Mexican Americans: Data from the Hispanic Established Population for Epidemiology Study of the Elderly

The longitudinal association between the rate of change in blood pressure and cognitive decline was examined in an area probability sample from a population-based survey of elderly Mexican Americans, 65 years of age or older obtained in 1993--1994, 1995--1996, 1998--1999, and 2000--2001 (n = 2859). The sample was divided into two groups at baseline: hypertensives had a systolic blood pressure (SBP) > or = 140 mm Hg, a diastolic blood pressure (DBP) > or = 90 mm Hg, or indicated a prior diagnosis of hypertension, and the normotensive group. Cognition was indexed by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Neither SBP nor DBP at baseline predicted cognitive decline. However, the mean slope for SBP in the normotensive group showed an increase of 4.55mm Hg (increase from Time 1 to Time 2 was 123mm Hg to 132 mm Hg) and was significant in a regression model predicting cognitive decline even after adjusting for covariates. These findings suggest an association between increasing SBP and cognitive decline for normotensive elderly in this study population.