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The relationship between long-term sunlight radiation and cognitive decline in the REGARDS cohort study
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

The relationship between long-term sunlight radiation and cognitive decline in the REGARDS cohort study

Shia T. Kent, Edmond K. Kabagambe, Virginia G. Wadley, Virginia J. Howard, William L. Crosson, Mohammad Z. Al-Hamdan, Suzanne E. Judd, Fredrick Peace and Leslie A. McClure
International journal of biometeorology, v 58(3), pp 361-370
01 Apr 2014
PMID: 23340910
url
https://europepmc.org/articles/pmc3665728View
Accepted (AM)Open Access (License Unspecified) Open

Abstract

Biophysics Environmental Sciences Environmental Sciences & Ecology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Physical Sciences Physiology Science & Technology
Sunlight may be related to cognitive function through vitamin D metabolism or circadian rhythm regulation. The analysis presented here sought to test whether ground and satellite measures of solar radiation are associated with cognitive decline. The study used a 15-year residential history merged with satellite and ground monitor data to determine sunlight (solar radiation) and air temperature exposure for a cohort of 19,896 cognitively intact black and white participants aged 45+ from the 48 contiguous United States. Exposures of 15, 10, 5, 2, and 1-year were used to predict cognitive status at the most recent assessment in logistic regression models; 1-year insolation and maximum temperatures were chosen as exposure measures. Solar radiation interacted with temperature, age, and gender in its relationships with incident cognitive impairment. After adjustment for covariates, the odds ratio (OR) of cognitive decline for solar radiation exposure below the median vs above the median in the 3rd tertile of maximum temperatures was 1.88 (95 % CI: 1.24, 2.85), that in the 2nd tertile was 1.33 (95 % CI: 1.09, 1.62), and that in the 1st tertile was 1.22 (95 % CI: 0.92, 1.60). We also found that participants under 60 years old had an OR = 1.63 (95 % CI: 1.20, 2.22), those 60-80 years old had an OR = 1.18 (95 % CI: 1.02, 1.36), and those over 80 years old had an OR = 1.05 (0.80, 1.37). Lastly, we found that males had an OR = 1.43 (95 % CI: 1.22, 1.69), and females had an OR = 1.02 (0.87, 1.20). We found that lower levels of solar radiation were associated with increased odds of incident cognitive impairment.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Biophysics
Environmental Sciences
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Physiology
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