Accelerated deterioration of physical health is associated with accelerated decline with aging in specific cognitive domains in older adults without dementia, according to a recent study. Researchers evaluated 756 individuals, aged ≥65 years, from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). The subjects, who were free of dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as a baseline, were followed for an average of 3 years. Standardized neurocognitive tests evaluating mental status, memory, executive function, processing speed, and verbal fluency were administered. Multimorbidity was assessed at each visit as was number of diagnosed chronic diseases from a predefined list. They found:

• Faster accumulation of chronic diseases was significantly associated with greater rate of decline on the category and letter fluency tests.

• Similar trends were also found for the trail-making test, parts A and B.

• No association was found with rate of change in visual and verbal memory.

Citation: Fabbri E, An Y, Zoli M, Tanaka T, et al. Association between accelerated multimorbidity and age-related cognitive decline in older Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging participants without dementia. [Published online ahead of print April 30, 2016]. J Am Geriatr Soc. doi:do.1111.jgs.14092.