Cognitive function and short-term exposure to residential air temperature: A repeated measures study based on spatiotemporal estimates of temperature

Abstract

Few studies have examined the association between ambient temperature and cognitive function, or used exposure to temperature at a given address instead of a single stationary monitor. The existing literature on the temperature-cognition relationship has mostly consisted of experimental studies that involve a small sample size and a few specific temperature values. In the current study, we examined the association between residential air temperature and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, a quantitative measurement of cognitive function, in a longitudinal cohort of elderly men. Residential air temperature was estimated by a novel spatiotemporal approach that incorporates satellite remote sensing, land use regression, meteorological variables and spatial smoothing in the Northeastern USA. We then applied logistic regression generalized estimating equations to examine the relationship between residential temperature (range: −5.8~25.7 degrees C), and the risk of low MMSE scores (MMSE scores ≤ 25) among 594 elderly men (1,085 visits in total) from the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study, 2000–2008. Sensitivity analysis on visits wherein subjects lived within 30 km of the clinic center in Massachusetts or aged ≥ 70 years was also evaluated. A statistically significant, U-shaped association between residential air temperature and low MMSE score (p-value = 0.036) was observed. Sensitivity analysis suggested that the estimated effect remains among individuals aged ≥ 70 years. In conclusion, the data suggest that risk of low MMSE scores is highest when temperature is either high or low, and lowest when ambient temperature is approximately within 10–15 degrees C in a cohort of elderly men. Further research is needed to confirm our findings and assess generalizability to other populations.

Short- and Long-Term Exposure to Higher Temperatures is Linked to Cognitive Impairment in Taiwanese Older Adults

“…Studies have demonstrated that short-term exposure to acute low temperature leads to a decline in cognitive function in young adults [29][30][31] as well as in older adults [16]. However, we did not observe this association.…”

“…Most relevant research focuses on young people rather than on older adults. In a longitudinal cohort study of older men, short-term exposure to higher air temperatures was signi cantly associated with low scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination [16]. Our nding of an association between short-term exposure to higher temperatures and moderate-to-severe cognitive impairment in community-dwelling older adults was consistent with those of other studies.…”

Association between Ambient Temperatures and Mental Disorder Hospitalizations in a Subtropical City: A Time-Series Study of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

“…The higher relative risks found for the older age-group might be associated with a higher prevalence of cognitive problems among the older population. Previous studies have reported negative associations between temperature and cognitive function among Japanese [ 45 ] and Americans [ 46 ], while another study from Massachusetts, USA reported an U-shaped association with cognitive function and identified minimum risk at 10–15 °C [ 47 ]. Our study also found a U-shaped association between temperature and dementia admissions, although the association was nonsignificant.…”

Temperature and mental health: Evidence from the spectrum of mental health outcomes

“…Measures of emotional and cognitive states are also impacted by temperatures (Connolly, 2013;Noelke et al, 2016;Baylis et al, 2018;Dai et al, 2016;Graff Zivin et al, 2018). Temperature-driven behavior alterations may either be indicate or contribute to such changes in emotional/cognitive states.…”