Lower cognition in people aged 60 to 69 links to future stroke

In a cohort of 4,912 Swedish adults aged 60 and older, lower cognitive performance was linked to an increased risk of first-time stroke over an average 12.3-year follow-up. Researchers examined participants from the Good Aging in Skåne study who had no history of stroke, transient ischemic attack, or dementia at baseline. During the follow-up period, 572 participants experienced a stroke. In fully adjusted models across the full sample, participants in the lowest tertile of perceptual speed had an increased stroke risk (hazard ratio, 1.40). When stratified by age, participants aged 60 to 69 in the lowest tertiles of global cognition (hazard ratio, 1.86), episodic memory (hazard ratio, 1.68), and perceptual speed (hazard ratio, 1.66) each showed elevated stroke risk.