Change in cardiovascular health and rate of cognitive decline in older adults: a 15-year population-based study

Previous research on associations between cardiovascular health, measured at a single timepoint, and rate of age-related cognitive decline shows divergent findings dependent on the participants’ age and the health metric studied. The aim of this study was to add to the knowledge in this field by investigating whether change in cardiovascular health, assessed with Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) score, is associated with rate of cognitive change in young-old and old-old adults. The study included 1022 participants aged ≥ 60 years from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care-Kungsholmen (SNAC-K), who underwent repeated neuropsychological testing (episodic memory, semantic memory, verbal fluency, and perceptual speed) across up to 15 years. LS7, composed of seven cardiovascular health metrics (smoking, diet, physical activity, body mass index, plasma glucose, total serum cholesterol, and blood pressure), was assessed at baseline and at the 6-year follow-up. Change in LS7 was calculated as the difference between baseline and 6 years (range − 5 to 8 points) and categorised into worse (−5 to −2 points), stable (−1 to 1 points), and improved (2 to 8 points). Change in cognitive performance as a function of LS7 change categories was estimated using linear mixed-effects models. Participants were classified as stable (67.1