Associations Between Air Pollution Exposure and Empirically Derived Profiles of Cognitive Performance in Older Women

Nov 8, 2021Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD

How Air Pollution Exposure Relates to Different Patterns of Thinking Skills in Older Women

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Abstract

Exposure to PM2.5 and NO2 is associated with cognitive performance patterns in older women.

Five distinct cognitive performance profiles were identified among participants: poor multi-domain, poor memory, average multi-domain, superior memory, and superior attention.
Higher PM2.5 exposure was linked to increased odds of being classified in the poor memory and superior attention profiles compared to average cognitive ability.
For each interquartile range increase in PM2.5 (3.64 μg/m3), the odds of poor memory classification increased by 29%.
Higher NO2 levels were associated with greater odds of poor memory classification and reduced odds of superior memory classification.
For each interquartile range increase in NO2 (9.86 ppb), the odds of poor memory classification increased by 38%.

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BACKGROUND: Elucidating associations between exposures to ambient air pollutants and profiles of cognitive performance may provide insight into neurotoxic effects on the aging brain.

OBJECTIVE: We examined associations between empirically derived profiles of cognitive performance and residential concentrations of particulate matter of aerodynamic diameter < 2.5 (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in older women.

METHOD: Women (N = 2,142) from the Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging completed a neuropsychological assessment measuring attention, visuospatial, language, and episodic memory abilities. Average yearly concentrations of PM2.5 and NO2 were estimated at the participant's addresses for the 3 years prior to the assessment. Latent profile structural equation models identified subgroups of women exhibiting similar profiles across tests. Multinomial regressions examined associations between exposures and latent profile classification, controlling for covariates.

RESULT: Five latent profiles were identified: low performance across multiple domains (poor multi-domain; n = 282;13%), relatively poor verbal episodic memory (poor memory; n = 216; 10%), average performance across all domains (average multi-domain; n = 974; 45%), superior memory (n = 381; 18%), and superior attention (n = 332; 15%). Using women with average cognitive ability as the referent, higher PM2.5 (per interquartile range [IQR] = 3.64μg/m3) was associated with greater odds of being classified in the poor memory (OR = 1.29; 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 1.10-1.52) or superior attention (OR = 1.30; 95% CI = 1.10-1.53) profiles. NO2 (per IQR = 9.86 ppb) was associated with higher odds of being classified in the poor memory (OR = 1.38; 95% CI = 1.17-1.63) and lower odds of being classified with superior memory (OR = 0.81; 95% CI = 0.67-0.97).

CONCLUSION: Exposure to PM2.5 and NO2 are associated with patterns of cognitive performance characterized by worse verbal episodic memory relative to performance in other domains.

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Associations Between Air Pollution Exposure and Empirically Derived Profiles of Cognitive Performance in Older Women

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