Cited by 57Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchCoffee research and impactsNutritional Studies and Diet

Relationships Between Caffeine Intake and Risk for Probable Dementia or Global Cognitive Impairment: The Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study

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Driscoll, Ira, Shumaker, Sally A., Snively, Beverly M., Margolis, Karen L., Manson, JoAnn E., Vitolins, Mara Z., Rossom, Rebecca C., Espeland, Mark A.·2016·The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Nonhuman studies suggest a protective effect of caffeine on cognition. Although human literature remains less consistent, reviews suggest a possible favorable relationship between caffeine consumption and cognitive impairment or dementia. We investigated the relationship between caffeine intake and incidence of cognitive impairment or probable dementia in women aged 65 and older from the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study. METHODS: All women with self-reported caffeine consumption at enrollment were included (N = 6,467). In 10 years or less of follow-up with annual assessments of cognitive function, 388 of these women received a diagnosis of probable dementia based on a 4-phase protocol that included central adjudication. We used proportional hazards regression to assess differences in the distributions of times until incidence of probable dementia or composite cognitive impairment among women grouped by baseline level of caffeine intake, adjusting for risk factors (hormone therapy, age, race, education, body mass index, sleep quality, depression, hypertension, prior cardiovascular disease, diabetes, smoking, and alcohol consumption). RESULTS: Women consuming above median levels (mean intake = 261mg) of caffeine intake for this group were less likely to develop incident dementia (hazard ratio = 0.74, 95% confidence interval [0.56, 0.99], p = .04) or any cognitive impairment (hazard ratio = 0.74, confidence interval [0.60, 0.91], p = .005) compared to those consuming below median amounts (mean intake = 64mg) of caffeine for this group. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest lower odds of probable dementia or cognitive impairment in older women whose caffeine consumption was above median for this group and are consistent with the existing literature showing an inverse association between caffeine intake and age-related cognitive impairment.

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  • Although caffeine reduces the risk for AD in both men and women, the protective effect seems to be greater in women.

    “Although caffeine reduces the risk for AD [68, 69] in both men and women, the protective effect seems to be greater in women [70].”

    From Sex-specific DNA methylation differences in Alzheimer’s disease pathology (2021) · cites this paper as [68]

    The Results report a lower incidence of probable dementia among women with higher caffeine intake. The Discussion cites a study finding a protective relationship with cognition in women but not men, while explicitly saying this study cannot generalize to men. It does not establish that protection against Alzheimer’s disease is greater in women than in men. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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  • Drinking moderate coffee (3-5 cups/day) lowers dementia incidence compared with not drinking coffee, and among coffee-drinkers, dementia incidence is lower in women than in men.

    “In addition, drinking a moderate amount of coffee (3~5 cups/day) lowers the incidence of dementia compared with not drinking coffee, and among coffee-drinkers, the incidence of dementia is lower in women than in men.”

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1 of the 37 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [6]6. Thal DR, Braak H. Post-mortem diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Pathologe. 2005;26:201–213. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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Authors
Driscoll, I., Shumaker, S. A., Snively, B. M., Margolis, K. L., Manson, J. E., Vitolins, M. Z., Rossom, R. C., & Espeland, M. A.
Affiliations
  • University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (US)
  • Department of Social Sciences (RU)
  • Wake Forest University Health Sciences (US)
  • HealthPartners (US)
  • Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
Venue
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
Published
2016-09-27
Volume
71
Issue
12
Pages
1596-1602
ISSN
  • 1079-5006 (ISSN-L)
  • 1758-535X
OpenAlex
W2524475911
Cited by
55
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 2
FWCI
3.55
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Journals of Gerontology Series A (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
  • National Institutes of Health
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHSN268201100046C, HHSN268201100001C, HHSN268201100002C, HHSN268201100003C, HHSN268201100004C, HHSN271201100004C)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Coffee research and impacts
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
Keywords
caffeine consumption, dementia, cognitive impairment, older women, cognitive aging, dementia risk, Women's Health Initiative Memory Study, hormone therapy, sleep quality, depression
MeSH terms
Aged, Caffeine, Cognition Disorders, Female, Humans, Memory Disorders, Risk Factors, United States, Estrogen Replacement Therapy, Incidence, Self Report

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