NDLI: Association between temperature exposure and cognition: a cross-sectional analysis of 20,687 aging adults in the United States

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Khan, Anam M. Finlay, Jessica M. Clarke, Philippa Sol, Ketlyne Melendez, Robert Judd, Suzanne Gronlund, Carina J.
Abstract	Background Older adults are particularly vulnerable to the adverse health effects of extreme temperature-related events. A growing body of literature highlights the importance of the natural environment, including air pollution and sunlight, on cognitive health. However, the relationship between exposure to outdoor temperatures and cognitive functioning, and whether there exists any differences across climate region, remains largely unexplored. We address this gap by examining the temperature-cognition association, and whether there exists any variation across climate regions in a national cohort of aging adults. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we obtained data on temperature exposure based on geocoded residential location of participants in the REasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study. For each participant, this information was linked to their cognitive scores from Word List Learning and Recall tests to assess cognitive functioning. We used distributed lag non-linear models (dlnm) to model temperature effects over 2 days. Multivariable linear regression was used to compute temperature-cognitive functioning associations, adjusted for important covariates. Region-specific (“Dry”, “Mediterranean/oceanic”, “Tropical” and “Continental”) associations were examined by including an interaction term between climate region and temperature. Results Amongst 20,687 individuals (mean age = 67.8; standard deviation = 9.2), exposure to region-specific extreme cold temperatures in the “dry” region (e.g., Arizona) over 2 days was associated with lower cognitive scores (Mean Difference [MD]: -0.76, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: − 1.45, − 0.07). Associations remained significant for cumulative effects of temperature over 2 days. Extremely cold exposure in the “Mediterranean/oceanic” region (e.g., California) over 2 days was also associated with significantly lower cognitive performance (MD: -0.25, 95% CI: − 0.47, − 0.04). No significant associations were observed for exposure to hot temperatures. Cognitive performance was slightly higher in late summer and fall compared to early summer. Conclusion We noted adverse cognitive associations with cold temperatures in traditionally warmer regions of the country and improved cognition in summer and early fall seasons. While we did not observe very large significant associations, this study deepens understanding of the impact of climate change on the cognitive health of aging adults and can inform clinical care and public health preparedness plans.
Related Links	https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12889-021-11533-x.pdf
Ending Page	12
Page Count	12
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	14712458
DOI	10.1186/s12889-021-11533-x
Journal	BMC Public Health
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	21
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2021-07-29
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Public Health Medicine Epidemiology Biostatistics Vaccine Environmental Health Temperature Extreme heat Extreme cold Cognitive performance Climate and context Aging Older adults Dlnm REGARDS Medicine/Public Health
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Journal Impact Factor	3.5/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	3.9/2023

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1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
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9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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