G Howard

Publications (2)16.62 Total impact

• Article: Vascular risk factors and cognitive impairment in a stroke-free cohort.

  F W Unverzagt, L A McClure, V G Wadley, N S Jenny, R C Go, M Cushman, B M Kissela, B J Kelley, R Kennedy, C S Moy, V Howard, G Howard
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  ABSTRACT: To examine vascular risk factors, as measured by the Framingham Stroke Risk Profile (FSRP), to predict incident cognitive impairment in a large, national sample of black and white adults age 45 years and older. Participants included subjects without stroke at baseline from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study with at least 2 cognitive function assessments during the follow-up (n = 23,752). Incident cognitive impairment was defined as decline from a baseline score of 5 or 6 (of possible 6 points) to the most recent follow-up score of 4 or less on the Six-item Screener (SIS). Subjects with suspected stroke during follow-up were censored. During a mean follow-up of 4.1 years, 1,907 participants met criteria for incident cognitive impairment. Baseline FSRP score was associated with incident cognitive impairment. An adjusted model revealed that male sex (odds ratio [OR] = 1.59, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.43-1.77), black race (OR = 2.09, 95% CI 1.88-2.35), less education (less than high school graduate vs college graduate, OR = 2.21, 95% CI 1.88-2.60), older age (10-year increments, OR = 2.11, per 10-year increase in age, 95% CI 2.05-2.18), and presence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH, OR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.06-1.58) were related to development of cognitive impairment. When LVH was excluded from the model, elevated systolic blood pressure was related to incident cognitive impairment. Total FSRP score, elevated blood pressure, and LVH predict development of clinically significant cognitive dysfunction. Prevention and treatment of high blood pressure may be effective in preserving cognitive health.
  Neurology 11/2011; 77(19):1729-36. · 8.31 Impact Factor
• Article: Association of higher diastolic blood pressure levels with cognitive impairment.

  G Tsivgoulis, A V Alexandrov, V G Wadley, F W Unverzagt, R C P Go, C S Moy, B Kissela, G Howard
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  ABSTRACT: We evaluated the cross-sectional relationship of blood pressure (BP) components with cognitive impairment after adjusting for potential confounders. Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) is a national, longitudinal population cohort evaluating stroke risk in 30,228 black and white men and women >or=45 years old. During the in-home visit, BP measurements were taken as the average of 2 measurements using a standard aneroid sphygmomanometer. Excluding participants with prior stroke or TIA, the present analysis included 19,836 participants (enrolled from December 2003 to March 2007) with complete baseline physical and cognitive evaluations. Incremental logistic models examined baseline relationships between BP components (systolic blood pressure [SBP], diastolic blood pressure [DBP], and pulse pressure [PP]) and impaired cognitive status (score of <or=4 on 6-Item Screener) after adjusting for demographic and environmental characteristics, cardiovascular risk factors, depressive symptoms, and current use of any antihypertensive medication. Higher DBP levels were associated with impaired cognitive status after adjusting for demographic and environmental characteristics, risk factors, depressive symptoms, and antihypertensive medications. An increment of 10 mm Hg in DBP was associated with a 7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 1%-14%, p = 0.0275) higher odds of cognitive impairment. No independent association was identified between impaired cognitive status and SBP (odds ratio [OR] 1.02, 95% CI 0.99-1.06) or PP (OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.95-1.04). There was no evidence of nonlinear relationships between any of the BP components and impaired cognitive status. There was no interaction between age and the relationship of impaired cognitive status with SBP (p = 0.827), DBP (p = 0.133), or PP (p = 0.827) levels. Higher diastolic blood pressure was cross-sectionally and independently associated with impaired cognitive status in this large, geographically dispersed, race- and sex-balanced sample of stroke-free individuals.
  Neurology 08/2009; 73(8):589-95. · 8.31 Impact Factor