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Objectives. We examined whether social networks had a protective association with incidence of dementia among elderly women. Methods. We prospectively studied 2249 members of a health maintenance organization who were 78 years or older, were classified as free of dementia in 2001, and had completed at least 1 follow-up interview in 2002 through 2005. We used the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status-modified, the Telephone Dementia Questionnaire, and medical record review to assess cognitive status. We used the Lubben Social Network Scale-6 to assess social network. We estimated hazard ratios for incident dementia with Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for age at entry, education, hormone use, cognitive status scores, and health conditions. Results. We identified 268 incident cases of dementia during follow-up. Compared with women with smaller social networks, the adjusted hazard ratio for incident dementia in women with larger social networks was 0.74 (95% confidence interval = 0.57, 0.97). Conclusions. Our findings suggest that larger social networks have a protective influence on cognitive function among elderly women. Future studies should explore which aspects of social networks are associated with dementia risk and maintenance of cognitive health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

: PurposeThis cross-sectional study sought to identify diabetes accurately in a study population of 3681 women age 75 and older and to determine the association of diabetes with cognitive performance.: MethodsA previously validated test, the Telephone Interview of Cognitive Screening—Modified (TICSm) was given to assess cognitive status. A diabetes case identification database, medical record review and self-report were used to determine diabetes cases. 489 (13.3%) of the women in the study were classified with diabetes and 3192 without diabetes.: Resultst-tests and linear regression analyses determined that diabetic women had a mean TICSm score 1.4 points lower (i.e. more impaired) than non-diabetic women. Using linear regression to adjust for age, education, and vascular disease, diabetic women showed a 1.1 lower score on the TICSm. Similar adjustments were made for potential confounding variables such as depression, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), high body weight, smoking, alcohol use and exercise and diabetics again showed a 1.0 lower score.: ConclusionThis study, which utilizes highly rigorous case identification methodology, provides further evidence that diabetes is associated with significantly worse cognitive performance in the elderly. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Presents a study that assessed the prevalence of dementia and cognitive impairment in women who use hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Analysis of the classification of cognitive structure; Assessment of the subclassification of dementia; Comparison between users and nonusers of HRT.