Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society

Table of Contents - 2004 - Volume 10, Issue 04  


Type 2 diabetes mellitus contributes to cognitive decline in old age: A longitudinal population-based study

LINDA B.  HASSING  a1 c1 , MICHAEL D.  GRANT  a2 , SCOTT M.  HOFER  a3 , NANCY L.  PEDERSEN  a4 a5 , SVEN E.  NILSSON  a6 , STIG  BERG  a6 , GERALD  MCCLEARN  a2 and BOO  JOHANSSON  a1
a1 Department of Psychology, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden
a2 Center for Developmental and Health Genetics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
a3 Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
a4 Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
a5 Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
a6 Institute of Gerontology, School of Health Sciences, Jönköping, Sweden

Article author query
hassing lb   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 
grant md   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 
hofer sm   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 
pedersen nl   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 
nilsson se   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 
berg s   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 
mcclearn g   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 
johansson b   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 

Abstract

We examined change in neuropsychological test performance related to type 2 diabetes mellitus across a 6-year interval. A population-based sample of 274 elderly participants (36 with diabetes and 238 without diabetes) was examined at four occasions at a 2-year interval. The participants were 80–93 years of age (M = 82.8 years) and without dementia at baseline. The test battery included tests of speed, visuospatial ability, short-term memory, semantic memory, episodic memory, and the Mini Mental Status Examination. Several models, taking into account diabetes and demographic data, were analyzed using SAS Proc Mixed multilevel modeling. At baseline, there were no significant differences in the neuropsychological tests related to diabetes. The longitudinal analyses, however, showed that diabetes was a significant predictor of decline for many of the tests. These findings points to the conclusion that type 2 diabetes is associated with accelerated cognitive decline in old age that may result in dementia. (JINS, 2004, 10, 599–607.)

(Received March 4 2003)
(Revised December 3 2003)
(Accepted January 9 2004)


Key Words: Diabetes; Dementia; Old age; Cognitive decline; Longitudinal study.

Correspondence:
c1 Reprint requests to: Linda B. Hassing, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Göteborg University, Box 500, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden. E-mail: Linda.Hassing@psy.gu.se

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