Table 1.
Characteristics of AD children and controls.
| Characteristic | AD children (n = 623) |
Controls (n = 157) |
|---|---|---|
| Demographics | ||
| Age - years | 52.37 (6.51) | 55.70 (5.86)* |
| Education - years | 16.00 (2.68) | 16.57 (2.89) |
| Female gender - % (n) | 72 (450) | 63 (99) |
| White/Caucasian - % (n) | 98 (612) | 99 (155) |
| APOE ε4 allele - % (n) | 44 (274) | 15 (23)* |
| Health History | ||
| Heart disease - % (n) | 10 (62) | 10 (16) |
| Hypertension - % (n) | 16 (99) | 20 (31) |
| High cholesterol - % (n) | 32 (197) | 31 (48) |
| Diabetes - % (n) | 2 (14) | 1 (2) |
| Stroke - % (n) | 1 (7) | 1 (1) |
| Head injury - % (n) | 13 (79) | 10 (15) |
| Neurological disorder - % (n) | 6 (36) | 1 (2) |
| Laboratory values/vitals | ||
| Homocysteine | 7.95 (2.30) | 7.71 (2.40) |
| Creatinine | 0.94 (0.17) | 0.98 (0.17) |
| Folic acid ≤20 - % (n) | 47 (290) | 51 (80) |
| Cholesterol (nonfasting) | 209.68 (34.93) | 199.55 (34.79)* |
| Body Mass Index | 28.46 (6.00) | 28.01 (5.55) |
| Systolic blood pressure | 132.13 (16.81) | 126.46 (17.02)* |
| Diastolic blood pressure | 76.44 (9.76) | 73.53 (10.28)* |
| Life style variables | ||
| Exercise frequency per month† | 3.63 (0.71) | 3.80 (0.53) |
| Alcohol use per week‡ | 1.21 (0.41) | 1.21 (0.41) |
| Smoked tobacco in past month - % (n) | 8 (51) | 10 (6) |
| Depression rating (CESD) | 6.51 (6.61) | 4.49 (4.55)* |
| IQ estimate (WASI) | 112.80 (9.26) | 114.75 (8.69) |
Note: Values are means (SDs) unless otherwise indicated.
WRAP = participants with one or both parents diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease; controls = participants with parents free of dementia to age 75
CESD = Centers for Disease Control Depression scale; WASI = Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence
*
p < .0004 (Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons with α at .01).
†
1 = never, 2 = once per month, 3 = 1 to 4 times per month, 4 = > once per week
‡
0 = never, 1 = < once per week, 2 = 1 to 2 days, 3 = 3 to 4 days, 4 = 5 to 6 days, 5 = daily