Table 1.
Demographic and pathology characteristics of the NACC, ROSMAP, ACT cohorts and combined sample
| Characteristicsa | NACC | ROSMAP | ACT | Overall | P valueb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 5,940) | (n = 1,183) | (n = 681) | (n = 7,804) | ||
| Sex | |||||
| Female | 2,980 (50.2%) | 798 (67.5%) | 381 (55.9%) | 4,159 (53.3%) | <0.001 |
| Male | 2,960 (49.8%) | 385 (32.5%) | 300 (44.1%) | 3,645 (46.7%) | |
| Age of death (year) | |||||
| Mean (s.d.) | 81.4 (9.81) | 89.6 (6.48) | 88.6 (6.61) | 83.3 (9.73) | <0.001 |
| Median (minimum and maximum) | 82 (39, 111) | 90 (66, 108) | 89 (70, 106) | 84 (39, 111) | |
| AD | |||||
| Not impaired | 634 (10.7%) | 363 (30.7%) | 594 (87.2%) | 1,591 (20.4%) | <0.001 |
| AD/MCI | 4,605 (77.5%) | 776 (65.6%) | 68 (10.0%) | 5,449 (69.8%) | |
| Unknown/other dementia | 701 (11.8%) | 44 (3.7%) | 19 (2.8%) | 764 (9.8%) | |
| Dementia | |||||
| No dementia | 1,029 (17.3%) | 649 (54.9%) | 594 (87.2%) | 2,272 (29.1%) | <0.001 |
| Dementia | 4,911 (82.7%) | 511 (43.2%) | 87 (12.8%) | 5,509 (70.6%) | |
| Missing | 0 (0%) | 23 (1.9%) | 0 (0%) | 23 (0.3%) | |
| APOE ε4 alleles | |||||
| 0 | 2,710 (45.6%) | 883 (74.6%) | 489 (71.8%) | 4,082 (52.3%) | <0.001 |
| 1 | 2,547 (42.9%) | 280 (23.7%) | 174 (25.6%) | 3,001 (38.5%) | |
| 2 | 680 (11.4%) | 20 (1.7%) | 15 (2.2%) | 715 (9.2%) | |
| Missing | 3 (0.1%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (0.4%) | 6 (0.1%) | |
| AD-related NPEs | |||||
| Amyloid-β plaques | |||||
| None | 407 (6.9%) | 222 (18.8%) | 64 (9.4%) | 693 (8.9%) | <0.001 |
| Mild | 515 (8.7%) | 351 (29.7%) | 34 (5.0%) | 900 (11.5%) | |
| Moderate | 884 (14.9%) | 278 (23.5%) | 71 (10.4%) | 1,233 (15.8%) | |
| Severe | 3,079 (51.8%) | 317 (26.8%) | 141 (20.7%) | 3,537 (45.3%) | |
| Missing | 1,055 (17.8%) | 15 (1.3%) | 371 (54.5%) | 1,441 (18.5%) | |
| Braak NFT stage | |||||
| 0 | 79 (1.3%) | 12 (1.0%) | 19 (2.8%) | 110 (1.4%) | <0.001 |
| 1 | 211 (3.6%) | 75 (6.3%) | 56 (8.2%) | 342 (4.4%) | |
| 2 | 365 (6.1%) | 109 (9.2%) | 111 (16.3%) | 585 (7.5%) | |
| 3 | 490 (8.2%) | 281 (23.8%) | 125 (18.4%) | 896 (11.5%) | |
| 4 | 860 (14.5%) | 370 (31.3%) | 130 (19.1%) | 1,360 (17.4%) | |
| 5 | 1,491 (25.1%) | 307 (26.0%) | 149 (21.9%) | 1,947 (24.9%) | |
| 6 | 2,431 (40.9%) | 18 (1.5%) | 87 (12.8%) | 2,536 (32.5%) | |
| Missing | 13 (0.2%) | 11 (0.9%) | 4 (0.6%) | 28 (0.4%) | |
| CERAD score | |||||
| None | 578 (9.7%) | 279 (23.6%) | 155 (22.8%) | 1,012 (13.0%) | <0.001 |
| Mild | 509 (8.6%) | 103 (8.7%) | 174 (25.6%) | 786 (10.1%) | |
| Moderate | 1,071 (18.0%) | 399 (33.7%) | 169 (24.8%) | 1,639 (21.0%) | |
| Severe | 3,777 (63.6%) | 391 (33.1%) | 181 (26.6%) | 4,349 (55.7%) | |
| Missing | 5 (0.1%) | 11 (0.9%) | 2 (0.3%) | 18 (0.2%) | |
| Cerebrovascular NPEs | |||||
| Arteriolosclerosis | |||||
| None | 1,231 (20.7%) | 407 (34.4%) | 7 (1.0%) | 1,645 (21.1%) | <0.001 |
| Mild | 1,577 (26.5%) | 398 (33.6%) | 147 (21.6%) | 2,122 (27.2%) | |
| Moderate | 1,501 (25.3%) | 277 (23.4%) | 289 (42.4%) | 2,067 (26.5%) | |
| Severe | 621 (10.5%) | 81 (6.8%) | 132 (19.4%) | 834 (10.7%) | |
| Missing | 1,010 (17.0%) | 20 (1.7%) | 106 (15.6%) | 1,136 (14.6%) | |
| Atherosclerosis | |||||
| None | 1,251 (21.1%) | 221 (18.7%) | 33 (4.8%) | 1,505 (19.3%) | <0.001 |
| Mild | 2,027 (34.1%) | 577 (48.8%) | 182 (26.7%) | 2,786 (35.7%) | |
| Moderate | 1,507 (25.4%) | 317 (26.8%) | 407 (59.8%) | 2,231 (28.6%) | |
| Severe | 711 (12.0%) | 60 (5.1%) | 47 (6.9%) | 818 (10.5%) | |
| Missing | 444 (7.5%) | 8 (0.7%) | 12 (1.8%) | 464 (5.9%) | |
| CAA | |||||
| None | 1,928 (32.5%) | 253 (21.4%) | 414 (60.8%) | 2,595 (33.3%) | <0.001 |
| Mild | 1,603 (27.0%) | 482 (40.7%) | 124 (18.2%) | 2,209 (28.3%) | |
| Moderate | 1,327 (22.3%) | 261 (22.1%) | 121 (17.8%) | 1,709 (21.9%) | |
| Severe | 707 (11.9%) | 141 (11.9%) | 20 (2.9%) | 868 (11.1%) | |
| Missing | 375 (6.3%) | 46 (3.9%) | 2 (0.3%) | 423 (5.4%) | |
| Gross infarcts | |||||
| Absent | 4,402 (74.1%) | 753 (63.7%) | 477 (70.0%) | 5,632 (72.2%) | <0.001 |
| Present | 1,146 (19.3%) | 416 (35.2%) | 204 (30.0%) | 1,766 (22.6%) | |
| Missing | 392 (6.6%) | 14 (1.2%) | 0 (0%) | 406 (5.2%) | |
| Microinfarcts | |||||
| Absent | 4,475 (75.3%) | 820 (69.3%) | 346 (50.8%) | 5,641 (72.3%) | <0.001 |
| Present | 1,160 (19.5%) | 349 (29.5%) | 330 (48.5%) | 1,839 (23.6%) | |
| Missing | 305 (5.1%) | 14 (1.2%) | 5 (0.7%) | 324 (4.2%) | |
| Non-AD NPEs | |||||
| LATE-NC | |||||
| None | 921 (15.5%) | 509 (43.0%) | 357 (52.4%) | 1,787 (22.9%) | <0.001 |
| Mild | 75 (1.3%) | 194 (16.4%) | 147 (21.6%) | 416 (5.3%) | |
| Moderate | 317 (5.3%) | 117 (9.9%) | 149 (21.9%) | 583 (7.5%) | |
| Severe | 50 (0.8%) | 267 (22.6%) | 9 (1.3%) | 326 (4.2%) | |
| Missing | 4,577 (77.1%) | 96 (8.1%) | 19 (2.8%) | 4,692 (60.1%) | |
| Lewy body | |||||
| None | 3,749 (63.1%) | 861 (72.8%) | 539 (79.1%) | 5,149 (66.0%) | <0.001 |
| Mild | 199 (3.4%) | 23 (1.9%) | 20 (2.9%) | 242 (3.1%) | |
| Moderate | 732 (12.3%) | 92 (7.8%) | 60 (8.8%) | 884 (11.3%) | |
| Severe | 726 (12.2%) | 157 (13.3%) | 60 (8.8%) | 943 (12.1%) | |
| Missing | 534 (9.0%) | 50 (4.2%) | 2 (0.3%) | 586 (7.5%) | |
| Hippocampal sclerosis | |||||
| Absent | 4,777 (80.4%) | 1,053 (89.0%) | 583 (85.6%) | 6,413 (82.2%) | 0.056 |
| Present | 572 (9.6%) | 100 (8.5%) | 79 (11.6%) | 751 (9.6%) | |
| Missing | 591 (9.9%) | 30 (2.5%) | 19 (2.8%) | 640 (8.2%) | |
Cohort demographics—NACC participants had a higher percentage of patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD (78%) than ROSMAP (66%) or ACT (10%). NACC participants died at a younger age (mean age at death = 81 years) compared to ROSMAP (90 years) and ACT (89 years) participants and had more balanced participation between the sexes, with 50% of NACC participants being female versus 68% and 58% in ROSMAP and ACT, respectively. NACC participants were also more likely to carry an APOE 4 allele (54%) versus ROSMAP (25%) or ACT (28%; chi-square test, P < 0.001 for all mentioned comparisons; the only not significant test was hippocampal sclerosis with P = 0.056). Notably, NACC is based on data collected from over 30 ADRCs, which often recruit from clinic patients and their families. In contrast, the other studies recruited older persons without known dementia; ACT from the Seattle, WA area; ROS from members of the Catholic Church clergy; and MAP from northeastern Illinois. MCI, mild cognitive impairment.
aExcept for the age of death, all distribution data are given as n and percentage.
bExcept for the age of death (ANOVA), the P value from the chi-square test.