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Statins, risk of dementia, and cognitive function: secondary analysis of the ginkgo evaluation of memory study
Bettermann K, Arnold AM, Williamson J, Rapp S, Sink K, Toole JF, Carlson MC, Yasar S et al.. Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association, 2011-01-14
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Background Lipid-lowering medications (LLMs) and especially statin drugs can delay cognitive decline and dementia onset in individuals with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) at baseline. Methods A longitudinal, observational study was conducted of 3069 cognitively healthy elderly patients (≥75 years of age) who were enrolled in the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory Study. The primary outcome measure was the time to adjudicated all-cause dementia and Alzheimer dementia (AD).
Key findings
- Methods A longitudinal, observational study was conducted of 3069 cognitively healthy elderly patients (≥75 years of age) who were enrolled in the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory Study.
- The primary outcome measure was the time to adjudicated all-cause dementia and Alzheimer dementia (AD).
- The secondary outcome measure was the change in global cognitive function over time measured by scores from the Modified Mini-Mental State Exam (3MSE) and the cognitive subscale of the AD Assessment Scale (ADAS-Cog).
- Results Among participants without MCI at baseline, the current use of statins was consistently associated with a reduced risk of all-cause dementia (hazard ratio [HR], 0.79; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.65-0.96; P = .021) and AD (HR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.39-0.85; P = .005).
Why it matters
This observational analysis of 3069 cognitively healthy elderly people in the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory Study examined whether statin use was related to time to dementia and to changes in cognitive function. The provided text does not report the results, so it is unknown whether statins affected dementia risk or cognition.
Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Evidence strengthHigh
How this study scored 65/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a randomised controlled trial. Scored zero for sample size and effect reported because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases: journal h-index 104 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 11 / 12 | A randomised controlled trial (from PubMed type “Randomized Controlled Trial”) |
| Strength of evidence | 5 / 5 | Rated “high” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2012 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| 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 | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 1 / 2 | Randomised (as stated in the record) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 131 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 8.2 citations a year over 16 year(s) since 2012 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 5.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 8 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 16 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Gregory L. Burke: h-index 121 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | University of Washington: institution h-index 3,540 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 7 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 21236699) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 65 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2010.11.002
- PubMed: 21236699
- Original source →
- Free full text: PubMed Central →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Bettermann, K., Arnold, A. M., Williamson, J., Rapp, S., Sink, K., Toole, J. F., et al. (2012). Statins, risk of dementia, and cognitive function: secondary analysis of the ginkgo evaluation of memory study. Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2010.11.002
Vancouver
Bettermann K, Arnold AM, Williamson J, Rapp S, Sink K, Toole JF, et al. Statins, risk of dementia, and cognitive function: secondary analysis of the ginkgo evaluation of memory study. Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association. 2012. doi:10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2010.11.002. PMID: 21236699.
BibTeX
@article{bettermann2012-21236699,
author = {Bettermann, K. and Arnold, A. M. and Williamson, J. and Rapp, S. and Sink, K. and Toole, J. F. and Carlson, M. C. and Yasar, S. and others},
title = {{Statins, risk of dementia, and cognitive function: secondary analysis of the ginkgo evaluation of memory study}},
journal = {Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association},
year = {2012},
doi = {10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2010.11.002},
pmid = {21236699},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2010.11.002}
}
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