Muzambi, R;
Bhaskaran, K;
Rentsch, CT;
Smeeth, L;
Brayne, C;
Garfield, V;
Williams, DM;
... Warren-Gash, C; + view all
(2022)
Are infections associated with cognitive decline and neuroimaging outcomes? A historical cohort study using data from the UK Biobank study linked to electronic health records.
Translational psychiatry
, 12
, Article 385. 10.1038/s41398-022-02145-z.
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Abstract
While there is growing evidence of associations between infections and dementia risk, associations with cognitive impairment and potential structural correlates of cognitive decline remain underexplored. Here we aimed to investigate the presence and nature of any associations between common infections, cognitive decline and neuroimaging parameters. The UK Biobank is a large volunteer cohort (over 500,000 participants recruited aged 40-69) with linkage to primary and secondary care records. Using linear mixed effects models, we compared participants with and without a history of infections for changes in cognitive function during follow-up. Linear regression models were used to investigate the association of infections with hippocampal and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume. 16,728 participants (median age 56.0 years [IQR 50.0-61.0]; 51.3% women) had baseline and follow-up cognitive measures. We found no evidence of an association between the presence of infection diagnoses and cognitive decline for mean correct response time (slope difference [infections versus no infections] = 0.40 ms, 95% CI: -0.17-0.96 per year), visual memory (slope difference 0.0004 log errors per year, 95% CI: -0.003-0.004, fluid intelligence (slope difference 0.007, 95% CI: -0.010-0.023) and prospective memory (OR 0.88, 95% CI: 0.68-1.14). No evidence of an association was found between infection site, setting or frequency and cognitive decline except for small associations on the visual memory test. We found no association between infections and hippocampal or WMH volume. Limitations of our study include selection bias, potential practice effects and the relatively young age of our cohort. Our findings do not support a major role for common midlife infections in contributing to cognitive decline for this cohort. Further research is warranted in individuals with more severe infections, for infections occurring later in life.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Are infections associated with cognitive decline and neuroimaging outcomes? A historical cohort study using data from the UK Biobank study linked to electronic health records |
| Location: | United States |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41398-022-02145-z |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-022-02145-z |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Biological Specimen Banks, Cognitive Dysfunction, Cohort Studies, Electronic Health Records, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Memory, Episodic, Middle Aged, Neuroimaging, United Kingdom |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Cardiovascular Science > Population Science and Experimental Medicine > MRC Unit for Lifelong Hlth and Ageing UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Cardiovascular Science > Population Science and Experimental Medicine UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Cardiovascular Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10156387 |
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