Does the Framingham cardiovascular disease risk score also have predictive utility for dementia death? An individual participant meta-analysis of 11,887 men and women

Objective: Individual cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors are associated with dementia. For the first time, we investigated whether the Framingham CVD risk score-which comprises these multiple risk factors-was also associated with future dementia risk. Methods: Individual participant meta-analysis of two large, general population cohort studies (N = 11,887). For the purposes of comparison of the dementia results, we also examined the association between the Framingham CVD risk score and CVD-related death. Results: Framingham CVD risk score was associated with dementia death (hazard ratio per 10% increased risk, 95% confidence interval: 4.00, 2.44-6.56). Adjusting for age eliminated this association (1.04, 0.53-2.01); similarly, age explained 88% of the ability of the Framingham CVD risk score to predict CVD death. Conclusions: The Framingham CVD risk score was no more strongly associated with future dementia than age. It therefore offers no added value in predicting dementia. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.