Tea Consumption and Cognitive Performance in the Very Old

Newcastle University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Cognition

Treatments: Other: Cognitive performance and cognitive decline

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03278743

UNewcastle

Details and patient eligibility

About

Studies have found a beneficial effect of tea consumption on the reduction of risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in older aged populations. However, there is a paucity of data on these associations in the very old defined as individuals aged 85 years and over. Therefore, we hypothesized that higher tea consumption was associated with better global and domain-specific cognitive function. We investigated the relationship between tea consumption in the very old and measures of global cognitive function, memory, attention and psychomotor speed.

The Newcastle 85+ Study was a longitudinal (5-years), population-based cohort study of individuals aged 85+ years in North East England, United Kingdom. The final sample included 676 community-dwelling and institutionalized men and women recruited through general medical practices.

Baseline tea consumption was assessed through a 2x24-hr multiple pass recall and longitudinal measures of global and domain specific (memory, speed and attention) cognitive function through the standardized mini-mental state examination and the cognitive drug research system. Linear mixed models, controlling for demographic (e.g. age, sex and education) and health variables were used to determine whether tea consumption was protective against cognitive decline.

Enrollment: 1,042 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 85 to 85 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Born in 1921
• Permanently registered with a participating general practice in Newcastle upon Tyne or North Tyneside primary care trusts in the UK

Exclusion criteria

• End-stage illness
• Individuals who might pose a safety risk to a nurse visiting alone, with dementia
• Clinical diagnosis of dementia at baseline

Trial design

1,042 participants in 2 patient groups

low to moderate tea consumption

Description:

consumption of 0.4 to 4.6 cups of tea (200 ml) per day (n=463)

Treatment:

Other: Cognitive performance and cognitive decline

High tea consumption

Description:

consumption of 4.6 to 11.9 cups of tea (200 ml) per day (n=213)

Treatment:

Other: Cognitive performance and cognitive decline