We investigated (a) cross-sectional associations between cognitive activity, cognitive performance, and MRI measures and (b) longitudinal associations between cognitive activity and change in cognitive performance, using structural equation modeling (SEM).Women's Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS) Extension participants who continued annual neuropsychological assessments by telephone and completed a concurrent questionnaire of cognitive activities and MRI scans were included (mean age = 81.4...

Background: We examined common patterns of home environmental modification (HEM) use and associated major (including disability-, cardiovascular-, and cancer-related) health conditions and events among older women. Methods: Women, aged 78.6 ± 6.3 years (n = 71,257), self-reported utilization of nine types of HEMs (hand rails, grab bars, ramps, nonslip surfaces, tacking carpets/rugs, decreasing clutter, increasing lighting, raised sink/counter heights, other). Concurrent history of major health ...

Abstract BACKGROUND: We examined common patterns of home environmental modification (HEM) use and associated major (including disability-, cardiovascular-, and cancer-related) health conditions and events among older women. METHODS: Women, age 78.6±6.3 years (n=71,257), self-reported utilization of 9 types of HEMs (hand rails, grab bars, ramps, non-slip surfaces, tacking carpets/rugs, decreasing clutter, increasing lighting, raised sink/counter heights, other). Concurrent history of major health...

BACKGROUND: Postmenopausal hormone therapy may have long-term effects on cognitive function depending on women's age. METHODS: Postintervention follow-up was conducted with annual cognitive assessments of two randomized controlled clinical trial cohorts, beginning an average of 6-7 years after study medications were terminated: 1,376 women who had enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative when aged 50-54 years and 2,880 who had enrolled when aged 65-79 years. Women had been randomly assigned to ...

INTRODUCTION: The Mediterranean and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diets have been associated with lower dementia risk. We evaluated dietary inflammatory potential in relation to mild cognitive impairment (MCI)/dementia risk. METHODS: Baseline food frequency questionnaires from n = 7085 women (aged 65-79 years) were used to calculate Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) scores that were categorized into four groups. Cognitive function was evaluated annually, and MCI and all-cause dementia c...

OBJECTIVES: As people age and the incidence of dementia increases, studies of cognitive function continue to be of importance. Ascertaining cognitive data through different mechanisms is necessary to address missing data concerns. METHODS: The Dementia Questionnaire (DQ), which utilizes proxy-based assessments, is a potential tool to determine cognitive status in participants no longer being followed per traditional study protocol. The DQ is currently being used in the Supplemental Case Ascertai...

Importance: Dementia affects a large and growing population of older adults. Although past studies suggest an association between vision and cognitive impairment, there are limited data regarding longitudinal associations of vision with dementia. Objective: To evaluate associations between visual impairment and risk of cognitive impairment. Design, setting, and participants: A secondary analysis of a prospective longitudinal cohort study compared the likelihood of incident dementia or mild cogni...

To investigate associations between proxy report of cognitive and functional limitations and cognitive performance and current or former driving status in older women with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and all-cause dementia.Cross-sectional data analysis of retrospectively identified older women with adjudicated MCI and all-cause dementia in the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study-Epidemiology of Cognitive Health Outcomes (WHIMS-ECHO).Academic medical center.Women (mean age ± standard devia...

OBJECTIVE: Relatively few APOE e4+ carriers survive to old age (age 80+) without cognitive impairment (CI), thus little is known about distinguishing characteristics of resilient APOE e4+ carriers. Herein we describe the sociodemographic characteristics of a large sample of resilient APOE e4+ women from the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS) and compare them to non-carriers and APOE e4+ women who developed CI before age 80. METHODS: Women were recruited for clinical trials evaluating...

Adherence to Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) may lower the risk of dementia by impacting immunity and cholesterol, which are pathways also implicated by genome-wide association studies of Alzheimer's Dementia (AD). We examined whether adherence to the MIND diet could modify the association of genetic risk for AD with incident dementia. We used three ongoing US cohorts: Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP, n = 2449), Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP, n...

Background: The association of cognitive function with symptoms of psychological distress during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic or adherence to COVID-19 protective health behaviors is not well understood. Methods: We examined 2,890 older women from the Women's Health Initiative cohort. Pre-pandemic (i.e., within 12 months prior to pandemic onset) and peri-pandemic global cognitive function scores were assessed with the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m). Anxiety...

Introduction: Apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) carriers' tendency toward hypercholesterolemia may contribute to Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk through oxysterols, which traverse the blood-brain barrier. Methods: Relationships between baseline plasma oxysterols, APOE status, serum lipids, and cognitive impairment risk were examined in 328 postmenopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study. Women were followed for 25 years or until incident dementia or cognitive impairment. Results: Leve...

Background and Purpose- We examine the association between self-reported consumption of artificially sweetened beverages (ASB) and stroke and its subtypes, coronary heart disease, and all-cause mortality in a cohort of postmenopausal US women. Methods- The analytic cohort included 81 714 women from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study, a multicenter longitudinal study of the health of 93 676 postmenopausal women of ages 50 to 79 years at baseline who enrolled in 1993 to 1998. This p...

Introduction: Physical activity (PA) is prospectively inversely associated with dementia risk, but few studies examined accelerometer measures of PA and sitting with rigorously-adjudicated mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia risk. Methods: We examined the associations of accelerometer measures (PA and sitting) with incident MCI/probable dementia in the Women's Health Initiative (n = 1277; mean age = 82 ± 6 years) RESULTS: Over a median follow-up of 4.2 years, 267 MCI/probable dementia c...

Dysregulation of the immune system and dietary patterns that increase inflammation can increase the risk for cognitive decline, but the mechanisms by which inflammatory nutritional habits may affect the development of cognitive impairment in aging are not well understood. To determine whether plasma proteins linked to inflammatory diet predict future cognitive impairment, we applied high-throughput proteomic assays to plasma samples from a subset (n = 1528) of Women's Health Initiative Memory St...

Background: Social support may be a modifiable risk factor for cognitive impairment. However, few long-term, large prospective studies have examined associations of various forms of social support with incident mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia.Objective: To examine associations of perceived social support with incident MCI and dementia among community-dwelling older women. Methods: This prospective cohort study included 6,670 women from the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study who ...

Background: Whether blood pressure (BP), and at what level of controlled BP, reduces risk of cognitive impairment remains uncertain. We investigated the association of BP and hypertension treatment status with mild cognitive impairment and dementia in older women. Methods: We prospectively analysed a sample of 7207 community-dwelling women aged 65-79 years participating in the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS). Participants were recruited between May 28, 1996, and Dec 13, 1999, at 3...

Introduction: Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) confers an increased risk of several chronic aging-related diseases. Paradoxically, CHIP was associated with lower risk of dementia in recent studies. Methods: We examined associations between baseline CHIP and incident mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and/or probable dementia in the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study. CHIP was detected using blood-based targeted sequencing. Cox proportional hazards models examined time to o...