Analysis of the relationship between blood pressure variability and subtle cognitive decline in older adults

Blood pressure variability (BPV) has been shown to be related to mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease in a number of studies. However, the relationship between BPV and subtle cognitive decline (SCD) has received minimal attention in this field of research to date and has rarely been reported.

To examine whether SCD is independently associated with changes in BPV in older adults.

Participants were selected based on having participated in cognitive function evaluation and ambulatory blood pressure measurement at the Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine between June 2020 and August 2022. The participants included 182 individuals with SCD as the experimental group and 237 with normal cognitive function as the control group. The basic data, laboratory examinations, scale tests, and ambulatory blood pressure test results of the two groups were analyzed retrospectively, and the relationship between SCD and BPV was subsequently evaluated.

Significant differences were observed between the two groups of participants (P < 0.05) in terms of age, education level, prevalence rate of diabetes, fasting blood glucose level, 24-h systolic blood pressure standard deviation and coefficient of variation, 24-h diastolic blood pressure standard deviation and coefficient of variation. The scale monitoring results showed significant differences in the scores for memory, attention, and visual space between the experimental and control groups. Logistic regression analysis indicated that age, education level, blood sugar level, and BPV were factors influencing cognitive decline. Linear regression analysis showed that there was an independent correlation between blood pressure variation and SCD, even after adjusting for related factors. Each of the above differences was still significant.

This study suggests that increased BPV is associated with SCD.