Simple Neuropsychological Tests May Identify Participants in Whom Aspirin Use Is Associated With Lower Dementia Incidence: The Canadian Study of Health and Aging Publisher Pubmed



Oveisgharan S^{1, 2} ; Hachinski V³
Source: American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and other Dementias Published:2016

Abstract

Background: We hypothesized that neuropsychological tests could help in identifying preclinical stages of vascular cognitive impairment, when aspirin use might be associated with lower dementia incidence. Methods: We used data of Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA) which was a longitudinal study of Canadians older than 65 years and was done in 3 waves, 1991 to 1992 (CSHA-1), 1996 to 1997 (CSHA-2), and 2001 to 2002. Results: CSHA-1 participants with vascular dementia performed worse in copying pentagons and writing subtests of modified Mini-Mental State Examination test than participants with probable Alzheimer's disease. Salicylates use was associated with lower incident dementia among normal cognition CSHA-1 participants who had low scores in copying pentagons and writing subtests after controlling for age, sex, education, and vascular risk factors (odds ratio = 0.25, 95% confidence interval: 0.073-0.86, P =.028). Conclusions: Two simple neuropsychological tests might help in identifying preclinical stages of vascular cognitive impairment, and salicylates use was associated with lower dementia incidence. © The Author(s) 2016.