Keshuo Lin, Wei Wen, Darren M. Lipnicki, Louise Mewton, Rory Chen, Jing Du, Dadong Wang, Ingmar Skoog, Therese Rydberg Sterner, Jenna Najar, Ki Woong Kim, Ji Won Han, Jun Sung Kim, Tze Pin Ng, Roger Ho, Denise Qian Ling Chua, Kaarin J. Anstey, Nicolas Cherbuin, Moyra E. Mortby, Henry Brodaty, Nicole Kochan, Perminder S. Sachdev, Jiyang Jiang, and for the Cohort Studies of Memory in an International Consortium (COSMIC)
Abstract INTRODUCTION White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are an important imaging marker for cerebral small vessel diseases, but their risk factors and cognitive associations have not been well documented in populations of different ethnicities and/or from different geographical regions. METHODS We investigated how WMHs were associated with vascular risk factors and cognition in both Whites and Asians, using data from five population‐based cohorts of non‐demented older individuals from Australia, Singapore, South Korea, and Sweden (N = 1946). WMH volumes (whole brain, periventricular, and deep) were quantified with UBO Detector and harmonized using the ComBat model. We also harmonized various vascular risk factors and scores for global cognition and individual cognitive domains. RESULTS Factors associated with larger whole brain WMH volumes included diabetes, hypertension, stroke, current smoking, body mass index, higher alcohol intake, and insufficient physical activity. Hypertension and stroke had stronger associations with WMH volumes in Whites than in Asians. No associations between WMH volumes and cognitive performance were found after correction for multiple testing. CONCLUSION The current study highlights ethnic differences in the contributions of vascular risk factors to WMHs.