Cited by 175Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchMenopause: Health Impacts and TreatmentsAlzheimer's disease research and treatments

Gender, cognitive decline, and risk of AD in older persons

Barnes, L.L., Wilson, R.S., Schneider, J.A., Bienias, J.L., Evans, D.A., Bennett, D.A.·2003·Neurology

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cross-sectional studies suggest gender differences in cognitive function and risk of AD in older persons. However, longitudinal studies comparing change in cognitive function and risk of AD in men and women have had mixed results. The authors investigated gender differences in rate of decline for different cognitive systems and for risk of developing AD. METHODS: Participants were from the Religious Orders Study, a longitudinal, clinical-pathologic study of aging and AD in older Catholic nuns, priests, and brothers. Longitudinal data were available from 577 older women and 271 older men, who completed an average of 5.8 annual evaluations with more than 95% follow-up participation in survivors. The evaluations included 21 neuropsychological tests, from which summary measures of global cognitive function and 5 functional domains were formed, and clinical classification of AD. RESULTS: Random effects models were used to analyze change in cognitive function, and proportional hazards models were used to assess risk of incident AD. On average, men and women declined in all abilities during the 8-year period but did not differ in annual rates of change in analyses that controlled for age, education, and initial level of cognitive function. Risk of incident AD did not differ between men and women. Furthermore, results were unchanged after controlling for possession of the apolipoprotein-epsilon4 allele. Duration of estrogen use was related to rate of global cognitive decline and visuospatial abilities in women but did not influence comparisons between men and women in cognitive decline. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that patterns of cognitive decline and incidence of AD are similar in older men and women.

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Crossref · 10.1212/01.wnl.0000065892.67099.2a

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37 of 37 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Baseline age, gender, and educational level were controlled for in all analyses.

    “Baseline age (years), gender, and educational level (years) are all well-established covariates of late-life cognitive function (Barnes et al., 2003;Tervo et al., 2004;Tilvis et al., 2004) and were controlled for in all analyses.”

    From Living alone and cognitive function in later life (2019) · cites this paper as Barnes et al., 2003

  • Age, gender, and education are established covariates of late-life cognition.

    “which are established covariates of late-life cognition [35–37].”

Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

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Authors
Barnes, L. L., Wilson, R. S., Schneider, J. A., Bienias, J. L., Evans, D. A., & Bennett, D. A.
Affiliations
Rush University Medical Center (US)
Venue
Neurology
Published
2003-06-10
Volume
60
Issue
11
Pages
1777-1781
ISSN
  • 0028-3878 (ISSN-L)
  • 1526-632X
OpenAlex
W2100757681
Cited by
173
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 10
FWCI
4.01
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Neurology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Aging (AG-15819, AG 10161, P30AG010161)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Menopause: Health Impacts and Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease, gender differences, cognitive decline, older adults, Religious Orders Study, APOE ε4, estrogen use, visuospatial ability, cognitive aging
MeSH terms
Aged, Alzheimer Disease, Cognition Disorders, Female, Humans, Male, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, Incidence

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