Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the gender-dependent association of cardiovascular health, assessed by Life's Essential 8 (LE8), with cognitive function in Chinese older adults. METHODS: Logistic regression was used to explore the relationships between LE8 scores and incident cognitive impairment as well as cognitive decline. Gender differences were examined by subgroup analyses. A generalized linear model (GLM) was used to assess the mean difference of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores across LE8 groups. RESULTS: Based on logistic regression, LE8 scores were inversely correlated with prevalence of baseline cognitive impairment (OR = 0.49, 95%CI: 0.30,0.84). Higher LE8 scores were associated with reduced risk of incident cognitive impairment among participants with normal cognition at baseline (OR = 0.56, 95%CI: 0.31,0.99), although there was no significant relationship between high LE8 scores and cognitive decline. Based on subgroup analyses, there was a significant gender-based association of LE8 with incident cognitive impairment (P = 0.022), but not with cognitive decline (P = 0.424). In the female subgroup, higher LE8 scores were associated with low risk of incident cognitive impairment (OR = 0.29, 95%CI: 0.13,0.64). Based on GLM analysis, the adjusted mean MMSE score of the high LE8 group was higher than that of the low LE8 group among all participants with follow-up (adjusted mean difference = 0.44, 95%CI: 0.03,0.85); similar results were observed among those with normal cognition at baseline. CONCLUSION: A higher LE8 score was significantly associated with better cognitive function in Chinese female but not male older adults.