Relationship Between 24-Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Cognitive Function in Community-Living Older Adults: The UCSD Ambulatory Blood Pressure Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure (BP) patterns have been associated with diminished cognitive function in hypertensive and very elderly populations. The relationship between ambulatory BP patterns and cognitive function in community-living older adults is unknown. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study in which 24-hour ambulatory BP, in-clinic BP, and cognitive function measures were obtained from 319 community-living older adults. RESULTS: The mean age was 72 years, 66% were female, and 13% were African-American. We performed linear regression with performance on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) as the primary outcome and 24-hour BP patterns as the independent variable, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, and comorbidities. Greater nighttime systolic dipping (P = 0.046) and higher 24-hour diastolic BP (DBP; P = 0.015) were both significantly associated with better cognitive function, whereas 24-hour systolic BP (SBP), average real variability, and ambulatory arterial stiffness were not. CONCLUSIONS: Higher 24-hour DBP and greater nighttime systolic dipping were significantly associated with improved cognitive function. Future studies should examine whether low 24-hour DBP and lack of nighttime systolic dipping predict future cognitive impairment.