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Vascular dementia: distinguishing characteristics, treatment, and prevention
Román GC.. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2003-05-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Vascular dementia (VaD) is the second-most-common cause of dementia in the elderly, after Alzheimer's disease (AD). VaD is defined as loss of cognitive function resulting from ischemic, hypoperfusive, or hemorrhagic brain lesions due to cerebrovascular disease or cardiovascular pathology. Diagnosis requires the following criteria: cognitive loss, often predominantly subcortical; vascular brain lesions demonstrated by imaging; a temporal link between stroke and dementia; and exclusion of other causes of dementia. Poststroke VaD may be caused by large-vessel disease with multiple strokes (multiinfarct dementia) or by a single stroke (strategic stroke VaD). A common form is subcortical ischemic VaD caused by small-vessel occlusions with multiple lacunas and by hypoperfusive lesions resulting from stenosis of medullary arterioles, as in Binswanger's disease. Unlike with AD, in VaD, executive dysfunction is commonly seen, but memory impairment is mild or may not even be present. The cholinesterase inhibitors used for AD are also useful in VaD. Prevention strategies should focus on reduction of stroke and cardiovascular disease, with attention to control of risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, and hyperhomocysteinemia.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Román, G. C. (2003). Vascular dementia: distinguishing characteristics, treatment, and prevention. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1532-5415.5155.x
Vancouver
Román GC. Vascular dementia: distinguishing characteristics, treatment, and prevention. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2003. doi:10.1046/j.1532-5415.5155.x. PMID: 12801386.
BibTeX
@article{roman2003-12801386,
author = {Román, G. C.},
title = {{Vascular dementia: distinguishing characteristics, treatment, and prevention}},
journal = {Journal of the American Geriatrics Society},
year = {2003},
doi = {10.1046/j.1532-5415.5155.x},
pmid = {12801386},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1532-5415.5155.x}
}
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.
Key findings
- Diagnosis requires the following criteria: cognitive loss, often predominantly subcortical; vascular brain lesions demonstrated by imaging; a temporal link between stroke and dementia; and exclusion of other causes of dementia.
Why it matters
This review describes vascular dementia as the second most common cause of dementia in the elderly and states that the cholinesterase inhibitors used for Alzheimer's disease are also useful in vascular dementia. It says prevention should focus on reducing stroke and cardiovascular disease and controlling risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol and high homocysteine.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 44/100
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 | 2003 — 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 219 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 8.8 citations a year over 25 year(s) since 2003 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 8.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 6 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 12 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Gustavo C. Román: h-index 68 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | The University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center: institution h-index 883 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 12801386) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 44 / 100 | — |
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