Association of neck circumference and cognitive impairment among Chinese elderly.

Objectives: To investigate the association between neck circumference (NC) and cognitive impairment and interactions between relevant variables to the risk of cognitive impairment.

Methods: A population-based survey was conducted among elderly inhabitants aged 60 years and over from a community in Shanghai suburb. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate associations and log likelihood ratio tests to examine interactions.

Results: Cognitive impairment was identified in 269 (10.8%) subjects from 2,500 participants. Higher BMI (OR = 1.55; 95% CI = 1.11-2.16), higher WHR (OR = 1.44; 95% CI = 1.07-1.95), and higher total cholesterol (TC) (OR = 1.52; 95% CI = 1.09-2.13) were significantly associated with the increased risk of cognitive impairment. Significant interactions were observed between TC and a few other relevant variables, respectively.

Conclusions: NC was associated with the high risk of cognitive impairment. Additive effects of NC with TC on cognitive impairment were observed.