%0 Journal Article
%T Pulmonary function and trajectories of cognitive decline in aging population.
%A Ksinan AJ
%A Dalecká A
%A Court T
%A Pikhart H
%A Bobák M
%J Exp Gerontol
%V 189
%N 0
%D 2024 May 18
%M 38428543
%F 4.253
%R 10.1016/j.exger.2024.112386
%X <B>BACKGROUND: </B>The number of older people with cognitive impairment is increasing worldwide. Impaired lung function might be associated with cognitive decline in older age; however, results from large longitudinal studies are lacking. In this study, we examined the longitudinal associations between pulmonary function and the trajectories of cognitive decline using prospective population-based SHARE data from 14 countries.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>The analytic sample included N = 32,049 older adults (Mean age at baseline = 64.76 years). The dependent variable was cognitive performance, measured repeatedly across six waves in three domains: verbal fluency, memory, and numeracy. The main predictor of interest was peak expiratory flow (PEF). The data were analyzed in a multilevel accelerated longitudinal design, with models adjusted for a variety of covariates.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>A lower PEF score was associated with lower cognitive performance for each domain as well as a lower global cognitive score. These associations remained statistically significant after adjusting for all covariates Q4 vs Q1 verbal fluency: unstandardized coefficient B = -3.15; numeracy: B = -0.52; memory: B = -0.64; global cognitive score B = -2.65, all p < .001). However, the PEF score was not found to be associated with the rate of decline for either of the cognitive outcomes.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>In this large multi-national longitudinal study, the PEF score was independently associated with lower levels of cognitive functions, but it did not predict a future decline. The results suggest that pre-existing differences in lung functions are responsible for variability in cognitive functions and that these differences remained stable across aging.