. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Apr 17.

Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Cardiol. 2010 Oct 26;7(12):686–698. doi: 10.1038/nrcardio.2010.161

Table 2. Epidemiological studies of hypertension in middle age and cognition.

Study name	n, age (years)	Study period	Outcomes	BP measures	Covariates	Associations with cognitive tasks
PATH¹³	2,082, 60–64	4 years follow-up	MCI, MCD	Systolic BP 140.77 ± 24.8 43% receiving antihypertensive medication	D, RF, DM, alcohol	Progression from MCI to MCD associated with HTN, harmful alcohol consumption, anxiety, and depression
Framingham Heart Study⁶⁷	1,814, 40–69	8–12 years follow-up	Neuropsychological tests	HTN Antihypertensive medication	Obesity	HTN and midlife obesity associated with worse executive function and visual motor skills, but not memory
ARIC⁶⁹	1,130, ∼60	14 years follow-up	Neuropsychological tests	HTN	D	HTN and DM associated with worse executive function (word Fluency and Delayed Word Recall tests); metabolic syndrome, stroke, and APOEε4 genotype associated with decline in Delayed Word Recall test scores
NHANES III⁷⁰	3,385 enrolled, 3,270 analyzed, 0–59	Cross-sectional	Neuropsychological tests Short-questionnaire survey	HTN Antihypertensive medication	D, SES	HTN and DM associated with worse cognition (Simple Reaction Time, Digit Symbol Substitution, and Serial Digit Learning tests)
REGARDS⁷¹	14,566, >45	Cross-sectional	Six-item screening test for cognition and stroke	HTN Antihypertensive medication	D, DM	HTN, DM, depression, smoking, and lack of exercise associated with increased risk of cognitive impairment
Whitehall II⁷³	5,838, 46–68	12 years follow-up	Neuropsychological tests	HTN	D, RF	HTN associated with worse memory, semantic, and fluency tests
REGARDS⁷²	19,836, 55–74	Cross-sectional	Six-item screening test based on MMSE	HTN Antihypertensive medication	D, RF, depression	High diastolic BP, but not high systolic BP, associated with impaired cognition

Abbreviations: ARIC, Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities; BP, blood pressure; D, demographic variables; DM, diabetes mellitus; HTN, hypertension (>140/90 mmHg); MCD, mild cognitive disorder; MCI, mild cognitive impairment; MMSE, minimental state examination; NHANES III, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III; PATH, Personality and Total Health through Life; REGARDS, REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke; RF, risk factors (BMI, DM, HTN, cholesterol, smoking); SES, socioeconomic status.