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The relationship between alcohol consumption, cognitive performance, and daily functioning in an urban sample of older black Americans
Hendrie HC, Gao S, Hall KS, Hui SL, Unverzagt FW.. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 1996-10-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective To report on moderate alcohol consumption and measurements of cognitive function and activities of daily living in an older, urban, community-dwelling sample of black Americans. Design As part of a community prevalence study of dementia, information on alcohol consumption and cognitive performance was collected on 2040 randomly selected black subjects living in Indianapolis. Measurements From questions in the screening interview, alcohol consumption was grouped into four categories: lifetime abstainers, regular drinkers less than 4 drinks per week, 4 to 10 drinks per week, and more than 10 drinks per week. Current and past drinkers were analyzed separately. Three measurements were used: (1) a total cognitive score; (2) the delayed recall score from the East Boston Memory Test; (3) a score for daily functioning based upon information from the informant. Multiple regression models were fitted with drinking variables as the major predictor, including covariates of age, gender, education, history of stroke, hypertension, being treated for depression, and a family history of dementia. Main results In all analyses, there was a very consistent pattern for both current and past drinkers. There was a small but significant dose effect of drinking for the drinkers, with subjects in the heaviest drinking category scoring poorest, i.e., lowest scores in cognitive tests and highest scores in scales of daily functioning indicating more impairment. The scores of abstainers were worse than those of subjects in the lightest drinking category. The pattern of scores for cognitive performance and daily functioning was similar between current and past drinkers. These patterns remained the same even after potential confounders were included. Conclusions Previous research on effects of alcohol on health indices have suggested a J-shaped relationship between amounts of alcohol consumption and measurements of heart disease, stroke, and mortality rates. Our study provides some support for the concept of a similar J-shaped relationship between cognitive performance and alcohol consumption, but the differences between drinking categories were modest and the clinical significance of these findings uncertain.
Key findings
- Main results In all analyses, there was a very consistent pattern for both current and past drinkers.
- There was a small but significant dose effect of drinking for the drinkers, with subjects in the heaviest drinking category scoring poorest, i.e., lowest scores in cognitive tests and highest scores in scales of daily functioning indicating more impairment.
- Our study provides some support for the concept of a similar J-shaped relationship between cognitive performance and alcohol consumption, but the differences between drinking categories were modest and the clinical significance of these findings uncertain.
Why it matters
This study examined the relationship between alcohol consumption, cognitive performance and daily functioning in older black Americans. It found that heavier drinking was associated with poorer cognitive scores, but it does not test a treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Journal of the American Geriatrics Society) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Journal of the American Geriatrics Society: journal h-index 344 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 1996 — 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 104 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 3.2 citations a year over 32 year(s) since 1996 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 2.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 4 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 1 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Frederick W. Unverzagt: h-index 66 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Indiana University School of Medicine: institution h-index 784 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 8855993) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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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. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Hendrie, H. C., Gao, S., Hall, K. S., Hui, S. L., & Unverzagt, F. W. (1996). The relationship between alcohol consumption, cognitive performance, and daily functioning in an urban sample of older black Americans. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1996.tb01364.x
Vancouver
Hendrie HC, Gao S, Hall KS, Hui SL, Unverzagt FW. The relationship between alcohol consumption, cognitive performance, and daily functioning in an urban sample of older black Americans. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 1996. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.1996.tb01364.x. PMID: 8855993.
BibTeX
@article{hendrie1996-8855993,
author = {Hendrie, H. C. and Gao, S. and Hall, K. S. and Hui, S. L. and Unverzagt, F. W.},
title = {{The relationship between alcohol consumption, cognitive performance, and daily functioning in an urban sample of older black Americans}},
journal = {Journal of the American Geriatrics Society},
year = {1996},
doi = {10.1111/j.1532-5415.1996.tb01364.x},
pmid = {8855993},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1996.tb01364.x}
}
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4 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.