J Korean Geriatr Psychiatry.  2014 Oct;18(2):51-54. 10.0000/jkgp.2014.18.2.51.

Correlation between Head Circumference and Cognition in the Elderly

• Baek HW
• Son SJ
• Lee KS
• Kim HJ
• Chang KJ
• Roh HW
• Lee Y
• Back JH
• Noh JS
• Chung YK
• Lim KY
• Hong CH

• KMID: 2334648
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.0000/jkgp.2014.18.2.51

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Head circumference (HC) has been reported to be an index of cognitive functioning in the elderly and in Alzheimer's patients. The object of the study is to find the relationship between HC and cognition.
METHODS
A total of 7,603 subjects over 60 years of age were analyzed from preliminary data of Gwangju Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment Study. HC was manually measured and cognitive functioning was assessed by the Korean version of the Mini Mental State Examination (K-MMSE).
RESULTS
Correlational analysis showed that HC was associated with age (r=-0.14, p<0.01), education (r=0.33, p<0.01), height (r=0.26, p<0.01), and K-MMSE (r=0.28, p<0.01). Also, even after adjusting for confounding variables (age, education, height, gender) the positive association between HC and K-MMSE score remained significant (beta=0.18, p<0.001).
CONCLUSION
The results suggest that HC may play an important role in predicting cognitive impairment in the elderly.

Keyword

Head circumference; Cognition; Elderly

MeSH Terms

Aged*
Cognition*
Confounding Factors (Epidemiology)
Dementia
Education
Gwangju
Head*
Humans
Mild Cognitive Impairment