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Alcohol consumption and cognitive function in late life: a longitudinal community study
Ganguli M, Vander Bilt J, Saxton JA, Shen C, Dodge HH.. Neurology, 2005-10-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective To examine the association between alcohol use and cognitive decline in a longitudinal study of a representative elderly community sample free of dementia at baseline. Methods Cognitive functions and self-reported drinking habits were assessed at 2-year intervals over an average of 7 years of follow-up. Cognitive measures, grouped into composites, were examined in association with alcohol consumption.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Ganguli, M., Vander Bilt, J., Saxton, J. A., Shen, C., & Dodge, H. H. (2005). Alcohol consumption and cognitive function in late life: a longitudinal community study. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000180520.35181.24
Vancouver
Ganguli M, Vander Bilt J, Saxton JA, Shen C, Dodge HH. Alcohol consumption and cognitive function in late life: a longitudinal community study. Neurology. 2005. doi:10.1212/01.wnl.0000180520.35181.24. PMID: 16247047.
BibTeX
@article{ganguli2005-16247047,
author = {Ganguli, M. and Vander Bilt, J. and Saxton, J. A. and Shen, C. and Dodge, H. H.},
title = {{Alcohol consumption and cognitive function in late life: a longitudinal community study}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2005},
doi = {10.1212/01.wnl.0000180520.35181.24},
pmid = {16247047},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000180520.35181.24}
}
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Key findings
- Methods Cognitive functions and self-reported drinking habits were assessed at 2-year intervals over an average of 7 years of follow-up.
- Cognitive measures, grouped into composites, were examined in association with alcohol consumption.
- Trajectory analyses identified latent homogeneous groups with respect to alcohol use frequency over time, and their association with average decline over the same period in each cognitive domain.
- Models controlled for age, sex, education, depression, smoking, general mental status (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]), performance on the given test at baseline, and subsequent new-onset dementia during follow-up.
Why it matters
This longitudinal community study followed elderly people free of dementia at baseline, assessing drinking habits and cognition every 2 years over about 7 years. The provided text does not report the results, so it is unknown whether alcohol consumption was associated with cognitive decline.
Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 57/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2005 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 190 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 8.3 citations a year over 23 year(s) since 2005 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 4.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 7 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 19 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Hiroko Hayama Dodge: h-index 65 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Pittsburgh: institution h-index 1,470 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 16247047) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 57 / 100 | — |
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