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Alcohol consumption and cognitive function in late life

A longitudinal community study

From the Division of Geriatrics and Neuropsychiatry, Department of Psychiatry (Dr. Ganguli and J. Vander Bilt), Department of Neurology (Dr. Saxton), University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Department of Epidemiology (Drs. Ganguli and Dodge), University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA; and the Division of Biostatistics (Dr. Shen), School of Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Mary Ganguli, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2593; e-mail: gangulim{at}upmc.edu

Objective: To examine the association between alcohol use and cognitive decline in a longitudinal study of a representative elderly community sample free of dementia at baseline.

Methods: Cognitive functions and self-reported drinking habits were assessed at 2-year intervals over an average of 7 years of follow-up. Cognitive measures, grouped into composites, were examined in association with alcohol consumption. Trajectory analyses identified latent homogeneous groups with respect to alcohol use frequency over time, and their association with average decline over the same period in each cognitive domain. Models controlled for age, sex, education, depression, smoking, general mental status (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]), performance on the given test at baseline, and subsequent new-onset dementia during follow-up.

Results: The authors found three homogeneous trajectories that they characterized as no drinking, minimal drinking, and moderate drinking. Few heavy drinkers were identified in this elderly cohort. Compared to no drinking, both minimal and moderate drinking were associated with lesser decline on the MMSE and Trailmaking tests. Minimal drinking was also associated with lesser decline on tests of learning and naming. These associations were more pronounced when comparing current drinkers to former drinkers (quitters) than to lifelong abstainers.

Conclusion: In a representative elderly cohort over an average of 7 years, a pattern of mild-to-moderate drinking, compared to not drinking, was associated with lesser average decline in cognitive domains over the same period.

Supported by Grants R01AG07562, K24AG023014, and K01AG023014 from the National Institute on Aging.

Disclosure: The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Received April 27, 2005. Accepted in final form July 5, 2005.

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