On 26 February, Dutch researchers published a paper identifying centenarians who were able to maintain high levels of cognitive performance for a period of at least two years. Findings were published in the journal JAMA Network Open.
In the published study, researchers analysed data from the 100-plus study of 340 centenarians. It is a cohort study including Dutch centenarians enrolled between 2013 and 2019 who had annual visits until death or participation was no longer possible. Cognition was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).
At baseline, participants had a median age of 100.5 years and scored a median MMSE score of 25. Results showed an 82% survival rate per year across participants who scored 26 to 30 points on the baseline MMSE. Only 79 of the 340 participants were followed up for 2 years and no cognitive changes were observed for 73% of these centenarians. This group is likely representative of less than 10% of the Dutch centenarians. In contrast, participants who had a baseline MMSE score less than 26 had a lower percentage rate of survival and experienced a higher cognitive decline per year.
In addition, the researchers investigated the prevalence of the protein apolipoprotein E (ApoE) as a risk factor associated with cognitive decline. They found that 18.6% of the centenarians who scored 26 or higher on the MMSE had at least one ApoE-4 allele compared with 5.6% of those with lower and/or declining cognitive performance. They also pointed out some limitations of the study including that the 100-plus is a cohort cognitively intact, not representative of the overall centenarian population and that the MMSE might be controversial as a test to evaluate cognitive health in centenarians.