Trajectories of cognitive decline following dementia onset : what accounts for variation in progression?

• BACKGROUND: Delineating the natural history of dementia progression has important clinical implications, including reducing caregiver burden and targeting effective drug trials. We examined whether trajectories of cognitive change differed reliably after diagnosis, and whether diverse predictors of such differences (demographic, psychological, biological, genetic, social) could be identified.METHODS: Cognitive change was examined for incident dementia cases (mild: n = 156; moderate: n = 77; severe: n = 73) and controls (n = 249) from the Kungsholmen Project, a community-based study of adults 75 years and older.RESULTS: For those with dementia, total variance attributed to between-person differences in cognitive decline was modest and linked to but a single predictor (history of cardiovascular disease). Although less variance in cognitive decline was observed for the similarly aged controls, numerous significant predictors of these differences were identified.CONCLUSION: The neurodegenerative process underlying dementia overshadows formerly significant predictors of cognitive change.

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MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Annan medicin och hälsovetenskap -- Gerontologi, medicinsk/hälsovetenskaplig inriktning (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Other Medical and Health Sciences -- Gerontology, specialising in Medical and Health Sciences (hsv//eng)

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