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Atrial fibrillation and cognitive decline: a longitudinal cohort study
Thacker EL, McKnight B, Psaty BM, Longstreth WT, Sitlani CM, Dublin S, Arnold AM, Fitzpatrick AL et al.. Neurology, 2013-06-05
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective We sought to determine whether in the absence of clinical stroke, people with atrial fibrillation experience faster cognitive decline than people without atrial fibrillation. Methods We conducted a longitudinal analysis in the Cardiovascular Health Study, a community-based study of 5,888 men and women aged 65 years and older, enrolled in 1989/1990 or 1992/1993. Participants did not have atrial fibrillation or a history of stroke at baseline. Participants were censored when they experienced incident clinical stroke. Incident atrial fibrillation was identified by hospital discharge diagnosis codes and annual study ECGs. The main outcome was rate of decline in mean scores on the 100-point Modified Mini-Mental State Examination (3MSE), administered annually up to 9 times. Results Analyses included 5,150 participants, of whom 552 (10.7%) developed incident atrial fibrillation during a mean of 7 years of follow-up. Mean 3MSE scores declined faster after incident atrial fibrillation compared with no prior atrial fibrillation. For example, the predicted 5-year decline in mean 3MSE score from age 80 to age 85 was -6.4 points (95% confidence interval [CI]: -7.0, -5.9) for participants without a history of atrial fibrillation, but was -10.3 points (95% CI: -11.8, -8.9) for participants experiencing incident atrial fibrillation at age 80, a 5-year difference of -3.9 points (95% CI: -5.3, -2.5). Conclusions In the absence of clinical stroke, people with incident atrial fibrillation are likely to reach thresholds of cognitive impairment or dementia at earlier ages than people with no history of atrial fibrillation.
Key findings
- Results Analyses included 5,150 participants, of whom 552 (10.7%) developed incident atrial fibrillation during a mean of 7 years of follow-up.
- Mean 3MSE scores declined faster after incident atrial fibrillation compared with no prior atrial fibrillation.
Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants5,150
- Effect size10.7%
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 69/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 40 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 69 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| 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 | 2013 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 3 / 4 | 5,150 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 23739229) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 40 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 40 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 69 out of 100. |
| Total | 69 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
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APA 7th
Thacker, E. L., McKnight, B., Psaty, B. M., Longstreth, W. T., Sitlani, C. M., Dublin, S., et al. (2013). Atrial fibrillation and cognitive decline: a longitudinal cohort study. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e31829a33d1
Vancouver
Thacker EL, McKnight B, Psaty BM, Longstreth WT, Sitlani CM, Dublin S, et al. Atrial fibrillation and cognitive decline: a longitudinal cohort study. Neurology. 2013. doi:10.1212/wnl.0b013e31829a33d1. PMID: 23739229.
BibTeX
@article{thacker2013-23739229,
author = {Thacker, E. L. and McKnight, B. and Psaty, B. M. and Longstreth, W. T. and Sitlani, C. M. and Dublin, S. and Arnold, A. M. and Fitzpatrick, A. L. and others},
title = {{Atrial fibrillation and cognitive decline: a longitudinal cohort study}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0b013e31829a33d1},
pmid = {23739229},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0b013e31829a33d1}
}