This site uses cookies to measure how you use the website so it can be updated and improved based on your needs and also uses cookies to help remember the notifications you’ve seen, like this one, so that we don’t show them to you again. If you could also tell us a little bit about yourself, this information will help us understand how we can support you better and make this site even easier for you to use and navigate.

Impact of smoking on cognitive decline in early old age: the Whitehall II cohort study

Authors

Sabia, Séverine, Elbaz, Alexis, Dugravot, Aline, Head, Jenny, Shipley, Martin, Hagger-Johnson, Gareth, Kivimaki, Mika, Singh-Manoux, Archana

Journal

Archives Of General Psychiatry, Volume: 69, No.: 6, Pages.: 627-635

Year of Publication

2012

Abstract

Context: Smoking is a possible risk factor for dementia, although its impact may have been underestimated in elderly populations because of the shorter life span of smokers.; Objective: To examine the association between smoking history and cognitive decline in the transition from midlife to old age.; Design: Cohort study.; Setting: The Whitehall II study. The first cognitive assessment was in 1997 to 1999, repeated over 2002 to 2004 and 2007 to 2009.; Participants: Data are from 5099 men and 2137 women in the Whitehall II study, mean age 56 years (range, 44-69 years) at the first cognitive assessment.; Main Outcome Measures: The cognitive test battery was composed of tests of memory, vocabulary, executive function (composed of 1 reasoning and 2 fluency tests), and a global cognitive score summarizing performance across all 5 tests. Smoking status was assessed over the entire study period. Linear mixed models were used to assess the association between smoking history and 10-year cognitive decline, expressed as z scores.; Results: In men, 10-year cognitive decline in all tests except vocabulary among never smokers ranged from a quarter to a third of the baseline standard deviation. Faster cognitive decline was observed among current smokers compared with never smokers in men (mean difference in 10-year decline in global cognition=-0.09 [95% CI, -0.15 to -0.03] and executive function=-0.11 [95% CI, -0.17 to -0.05]). Recent ex-smokers had greater decline in executive function (-0.08 [95% CI, -0.14 to -0.02]), while the decline in long-term ex-smokers was similar to that among never smokers. In analyses that additionally took dropout and death into account, these differences were 1.2 to 1.5 times larger. In women, cognitive decline did not vary as a function of smoking status.; Conclusions: Compared with never smokers, middle-aged male smokers experienced faster cognitive decline in global cognition and executive function. In ex-smokers with at least a 10-year cessation, there were no adverse effects on cognitive decline.;

Bibtex Citation

@article{Sabia_2012, doi = {10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.2016}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.2016}, year = 2012, month = {jun}, publisher = {American Medical Association ({AMA})}, volume = {69}, number = {6}, author = {S{'{e}}verine Sabia and Alexis Elbaz and Aline Dugravot and Jenny Head and Martin Shipley and Gareth Hagger-Johnson and Mika Kivimaki and Archana Singh-Manoux}, title = {Impact of Smoking on Cognitive Decline in Early Old Age}, journal = {Arch Gen Psychiatry} }

Keywords

adult, adverse effects, aged, as, cognition disorders, cognitive, cohort studies, etiology, factor, female, great britain, humans, male, middle aged, neuropsychological tests, physiopathology, risk, smokers, smoking, time factors

Countries of Study

UK

Types of Dementia

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)

Types of Study

Cohort Study

Type of Outcomes

Cognition, Risk reduction (of dementia and co-morbidities)

Type of Interventions

Risk Factor Modification

Risk Factor Modifications

At risk population