ArticleJournal of racial and ethnic health disparities2023
Body Mass Index, White Matter Hyperintensities, and Cognitive Performance in American Indians: Data from the Strong Heart Study.
Article in Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.
- Risk factors and population attributable fraction for dementia in American Indians: The Strong Heart Study.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Associations between white matter lesions, adiposity, and systemic inflammation in late adulthood: Results from the IGNITE study.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2026Article
- Epidemiology of Head Injury and Associations with Clinical and Neuropsychological Test Scores in Older American Indians: Data from the Strong Heart Study.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrevious studies report that obesity can be a risk and a protective factor for cognitive health. However, they have not examined whether white matter hyperintensities (WMH) mediate the association between mid- or late-life body mass index (BMI) and late-life cognitive performance. We examined this question in American Indians, a population underrepresented in neuropsychological research.
methodWe used longitudinal data from the cerebrovascular disease and its consequences in American Indians (n = 817), with BMI data collected at midlife (1989-91) and lat-life (2010-13). Cognitive data were collected in late life, with tests for general cognition, processing speed, verbal fluency, and memory. Neuroradiologist-scored WMH severity and volume using standard analysis pipelines. We examined associations among BMI, WMH severity and volume, and cognitive scores using linear regression and the Baron and Kenny method to estimate mediation.
resultHigh BMI in late life was associated with a 1.79-point higher score in general cognition (95% CI 0.63-2.95, p-value = 0.002), but not the other tests. Mediated by WMH severity, high late-life BMI was associated with a 1.53-point higher score in general cognition (95% CI 0.37-2.69) and, by WMH volume, 1.63 points higher (95% CI 0.49-2.77). The association between late-life obesity and cognitive performance is stronger for females (β = 1.74, 95% CI 0.35-3.13, p-value = 0.014) than for males (β = 1.66, 95% CI -0.63-3.95, p-value = 0.158).
conclusionIn American Indians, high late-life BMI was positively associated with cognitive performance, with a stronger association for females. WMH severity and volume partly attenuate these associations.
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Registered trials
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