Vienna Transdanube Aging “VITA”: study design, recruitment strategies and level of participation

Int J Geriat Psychiatry

Weissgram

Zehetmayer

et al. 2005

Self Cite

Section: Dementiamentioning

confidence: 99%

VITA: subtypes of mild cognitive impairment in a community‐based cohort at the age of 75 years

Int J Geriat Psychiatry

Weissgram

Zehetmayer

et al. 2005

Self Cite

“…The VITA study consists of an extensive neurological, psychiatric and neuropsychological examination of every participant by experienced specialists (neurologist, specialist for internal medicine, psychiatrist and 2 clinical psychologists) lasting about 9 h over 2 days per subject, both at baseline and at follow-up [14] . The causes of refusal and the current medication were asked for per telephone conversation.…”

Section: Clinical Evaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk Factors for Alzheimer Dementia in a Community-Based Birth Cohort at the Age of 75 Years

Fischer

Zehetmayer²,

Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord

et al. 2008

Background: Few prospective community-based cohort studies have so far concentrated specifically on the risk factors for Alzheimer dementia (AD) with onset after the age of 75 years. Methods: We prospectively investigated a birth cohort of 585 nondemented inhabitants in the area on the East bank of the river Danube who were born between 1925 and 1926. They were investigated at the age of 75 years and followed up after 30 months. The follow-up was possible with 488 probands; 36 died, and 61 refused to participate. Results: In multivariate analysis an elevated risk for late-onset AD could be found for (1) history of depressive episodes (OR = 2.09; 95% CI = 1.25–3.48); (2) the Ε4 allele of the APOE gene (OR = 1.86; 95% CI = 1.08–3.23); (3) lower serum level of folate (OR = 0.92; 95% CI = 0.87–0.98); (4) no chronic use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (OR = 0.40; 95% CI = 0.20–0.81), and (5) lower education (OR = 1.43; 95% CI = 1.03–2.00). Conclusions: Five risk factors for late-onset AD could be confirmed, which might be targets for preventive strategies.

“…The design and recruitment of the VITA study sample has been described in great detail elsewhere [Fischer et al, 2002;Grünblatt et al, 2009;Jungwirth et al, 2009]. It consists of 606 individuals inhabiting districts 21 and 22 of Vienna, Austria, who were all born between May 1925 and June 1926, thus forming a birth cohort that was age 75 at baseline (t ¼ 0) examination.…”

Section: Materials and Methods Study Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The VITA study is a communitybased longitudinal study following a birth cohort of inhabitants registered in Vienna's 21st and 22nd district for a period of 90 months with a regular follow-up interval of 30 months. At baseline examination, all 606 participants were 75 years old [Fischer et al, 2002].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of association of serotonin transporter and monoamine oxidase‐A genes with Alzheimer's disease and depression in the VITA study cohort: A 90‐month longitudinal study

Scholz

American J of Med Genetics Pt B

Danielczyk

et al. 2014

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and depression (DE) are common psychiatric disorders strongly intertwined with one another. Nevertheless, etiology and early diagnosis of the disorders are still elusive. Several genetic variations have been suggested to associate with AD and DE, particularly in genes involved in the serotonergic system such as the serotonin transporter (SERT/SLC6A4), responsible for the removal from the synaptic cleft, and the monoamine-oxidase-A (MAOA), responsible for the presynaptic degradation of serotonin. Here, we attempt to characterize this pleiotropic effect for the triallelic SERT gene-linked polymorphic region (5HTTLPR) and for the MAOA-uVNTR, in participants in the Vienna-Transdanube-Aging (VITA)-study. The VITA-study is a community-based longitudinal study following a birth cohort (75 years old at baseline examination, n = 606) from Vienna for a period of 90 months with a regular follow-up interval of 30 months. Our main finding, confirming previous reports, is that the 5HTTLPR S-allele is a risk allele for DE (OR = 1.55 CI 95% 1.03-2.32) and its carriers had a steeper increase in SGDS sum score. No association to AD was found. MAOA-uVNTR did not associate with either AD or DE. However, in AD MAOA-uVNTR S-allele carriers a steeper increase of HAMD and STAI1 sum scores (P < 0.05) was observed. Although the VITA-study cohort is rather small with low power to detect gene alterations, the uniqueness of this very thoroughly investigated and homogenous cohort strengthens the results through exceptional data collection. Still, reinvestigation in a larger cohort similar to this, as well as a meta-analysis, is important to confirm these results.