Association of Vascular Risk Scores and Cognitive Performance in a Diverse Cohort: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

BACKGROUND Vascular risk scores are associated with incident dementia. Information regarding their association with cognitive performance and decline in racially/ethnically diverse cohorts is lacking. METHODS In 4392 Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis participants (aged 60.1±9.4 years; 53% women; 41% white, 11% Chinese-American, 26% African-American, 21% Hispanic), we compared associations of Exam 1 (2000-02) Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Incidence of Dementia (CAIDE), Framingham stroke (FSRP), and atherosclerotic disease pooled cohort equation (ASCVD-PCE) risk scores with Exam 5 (2010-12) Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI), Digit Symbol Coding (DSC), and Digit Span (DS) cognitive test performance using multivariable linear regression, and examined racial/ethnic interactions. In 1838 participants with repeat CASI data at Exam 6 (2016-18), we related risk scores to odds of a 1-standard deviation (SD) decline in CASI performance using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS SD increments in each risk score were associated with worse cognitive performance. CAIDE had stronger associations with CASI performance than the FSRP and ASCVD-PCE, but associations of ASCVD-PCE with the DSC and DS were similar to CAIDE (difference in β [95% CI] = -0.57 [-1.48, 0.34] and -0.21 [-0.43, 0.01], respectively). Race/ethnicity modified associations. For example, associations between CAIDE and CASI were greater in African-Americans and Hispanics than whites (difference in β = 0.69 [0.02, 1.36] and 1.67 [0.95, 2.39], respectively). Risk scores were comparably associated with decline in CASI performance. CONCLUSIONS Antecedent vascular risk scores are associated with cognitive performance and decline in the four most common US racial/ethnic groups, but associations differ among risk scores and by race/ethnicity.