ArticleBMC public health2019
Cognitive function and cardiometabolic disease risk factors in rural South Africa: baseline evidence from the HAALSI study.
Article in BMC public health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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15 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Hypertension and cognitive impairment among older persons in rural Northern Uganda: a cross-sectional study.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- The association between BMI and cognition in India: data from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI).BMC public health · 2024Article
- DNA Methylation Mediates the Association Between Cardiometabolic Risk Factors and Cognition: Findings From the Health and Retirement Study.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2024Article
- The impacts of social determinants of health and cardiometabolic factors on cognitive and functional aging in Colombian underserved populations.GeroScience · 2023Article
- Risk factors for mild cognitive impairment among older adults in a hospital in southern Nigeria.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2023Article
- The path between socioeconomic inequality and cognitive function: A mediation analysis based on the HAALSI cohort in rural South Africa.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Early Stage and Established Hypertension in Sub-Saharan Africa: Results From Population Health Surveys in 17 Countries, 2010-2017.Circulation. Cardiovascular quality and outcomes · 2022Article
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- The Association of Reproductive Aging with Cognitive Function in Sub-Saharan African Women.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2022Review
- Apolipoprotein E Genetic Variation and Its Association With Cognitive Function in Rural-Dwelling Older South Africans.Frontiers in genetics · 2021Article
- The Longitudinal Association Between Cardiovascular Risk and Cognitive Function in Middle-Aged and Older Adults in China: A Nationally Representative Cohort Study.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2020Article
- The global healthy ageing agenda: The impact of education, gender, childhood conditions and social engagement in rural South Africa.Journal of policy modelingArticle
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11 authors at 6 institutions in 5 countries.
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Abstract
backgroundEvidence on cognitive function in older South Africans is limited, with few population-based studies. We aimed to estimate baseline associations between cognitive function and cardiometabolic disease risk factors in rural South Africa.
methodsWe use baseline data from "Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa" (HAALSI), a population-based study of adults aged 40 and above in rural South Africa in 2015. Cognitive function was measured using measures of time orientation, immediate and delayed recall, and numeracy adapted from the Health and Retirement Study cognitive battery (overall total cognitive score range 0-26). We used multiple linear regression to estimate associations between cardiometabolic risk factors (including BMI, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, history of stroke, alcohol frequency, and smoking status) and the overall cognitive function score, adjusted for potential confounders.
resultsIn multivariable-adjusted analyses (n = 3018; male = 1520; female = 1498; median age 59 (interquartile range 50-67)), cardiometabolic risk factors associated with lower cognitive function scores included: diabetes (b = - 1.11 [95% confidence interval: - 2.01, - 0.20] for controlled diabetes vs. no diabetes); underweight BMI (b = - 0.87 [CI: - 1.48, - 0.26] vs. normal BMI); and current and past smoking history compared to never smokers. Factors associated with higher cognitive function scores included: obese BMI (b = 0.74 [CI: 0.39, 1.10] vs. normal BMI); and controlled hypertension (b = 0.53 [CI: 0.11, 0.96] vs. normotensive).
conclusionsWe provide an important baseline from rural South Africa on the associations between cardiometabolic disease risk factors and cognitive function in an older, rural South African population using standardized clinical measurements and cut-offs and widely used cognitive assessments. Future studies are needed to clarify temporal associations as well as patterns between the onset and duration of cardiometabolic conditions and cognitive function. As the South African population ages, effective management of cardiometabolic risk factors may be key to lasting cognitive health.
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