Pulse Pressure and Risk of Alzheimer Disease in Persons Aged 75 Years and Older

Abstract

Background and Purpose— Elevated blood pressure has been found to increase the risk of dementia, including Alzheimer disease. We sought to investigate whether pulse pressure was predictive of Alzheimer disease and dementia. Methods— A community-based, dementia-free cohort (n=1270) aged ≥75 years was clinically examined twice over 6 years to detect incident dementia with the use of the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Revised Third Edition. Cox proportional hazards models were used to analyze pulse pressure in association with incident Alzheimer disease and dementia after adjustment for several potential confounders, including systolic pressure and diastolic pressure. Results— During the 5464.6 person-years (median, 4.7 years) of follow-up, 339 subjects developed dementia, including 256 Alzheimer disease cases. Pulse pressure as a continuous variable was not statistically related to the risk of Alzheimer disease and dementia. In the categorical analysis, however, in co...