The association between white matter hyperintensity volume and cognitive/physical decline in older people with...

Understanding the relationship between white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) and cognitive and physical decline in people with dementia will assist in determining potential treatment strategies. Currently there is conflicting evidence describing the association between WMHs and cognitive decline and, WMHs association with declines in objective measures of physical function have not been examined. We examined the relationship between baseline WMH volume and physical/cognitive decline over one-year in older people with dementia.

Twenty-six community-dwelling older people with dementia (mean age = 81 ± 8 years; 35% female) were assessed at baseline and follow-up (one-year) using the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-Revised (including verbal fluency), Trail Making Test A, the Physiological Profile Assessment (PPA), timed-up-and-go (TUG) and gait speed. WMH volumes were quantified using a fully automated segmentation toolbox, UBO Detector.

In analyses adjusted for baseline performance, higher baseline WMH volume was associated with decline in executive function (verbal fluency), sensorimotor function (PPA) and mobility (TUG). Executive function (semantic/category fluency) was the only domain association that withstood adjustment for age, and additionally hippocampal volume.

In unadjusted analyses, WMH volume was associated with one-year declines in cognitive and physical function in older people with dementia. The association with executive function decline withstood adjustment for age. More research is needed to confirm these findings and explore whether vascular risk reduction strategies can reduce WMH volume and associated cognitive and physical impairments in this group.