Associations between Hypertension, Treatment, and Cognitive Function in the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing

Epidemiological studies have produced conflicting results regarding the associations between the use of different hypertensive drugs and cognition. Data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), a nationwide prospective longitudinal study of adults aged 50 or more years, was used to explore the associations between hypertensive status, categories of antihypertensive and cognitive function controlling for age, education, and other demographic and lifestyle factors. The study sample included 8173 participants. ANCOVAs and multivariate regressions were used to assess the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between cognitive function and hypertension status and the different categories of hypertensive medication. Hypertension was not associated with decline in global cognitive and executive functions and were fully explained by age and education. Different hypertensive medications were not associated with cognitive function. Consistent with previous studies, changes in cognition can largely be explained by age and education. The use of antihypertensive medications is neither harmful nor protective for cognition.