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Is Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution Associated with Episodic Memory? A Longitudinal Study from Northern Sweden

Oudin, Anna LU ; Forsberg, Bertil ; Lind, Nina ; Nordin, Steven ; Oudin Åström, Daniel LU ; Sundström, Anna-Karin and Nordin, Maria (2017) In Scientific Reports 7(1).
Abstract

Associations between long-Term exposure to ambient air pollution and cognitive function have been observed in a few longitudinal studies. Our aim was to investigate the association between long-Term exposure to air pollution and episodic memory, a marker of early cognitive decline. We used data from the Betula study in Northern Sweden, and included participants 60 to 85 of age at inclusion, 1,469 persons in total. The participants were followed for up to 22 years, five years apart between 1988 and 2010. A composite of five tasks was used as a measure of episodic memory measure (EMM), and the five-year change in EMM score (ΔEMM) was calculated such that a participant could contribute with up to four measurement pairs. A Land Use... (More)

Associations between long-Term exposure to ambient air pollution and cognitive function have been observed in a few longitudinal studies. Our aim was to investigate the association between long-Term exposure to air pollution and episodic memory, a marker of early cognitive decline. We used data from the Betula study in Northern Sweden, and included participants 60 to 85 of age at inclusion, 1,469 persons in total. The participants were followed for up to 22 years, five years apart between 1988 and 2010. A composite of five tasks was used as a measure of episodic memory measure (EMM), and the five-year change in EMM score (ΔEMM) was calculated such that a participant could contribute with up to four measurement pairs. A Land Use Regression Model was used to estimate cumulative annual mean of NOx at the residential address of the participants (a marker for long-Term exposure to traffic-related air pollution). There did not seem to be any association between exposure to traffic air pollution and episodic memory change, with a ΔEMM estimate of per 1 μg/m3 increase in NOx of 0.01 (95% Confidence Interval:-0.02,0.03). This is in contrast to a growing body of evidence suggesting associations between air pollution and cognitive function.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Scientific Reports
volume
7
issue
1
article number
12789
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:28986549
  • wos:000412492400015
  • scopus:85030759932
ISSN
2045-2322
DOI
10.1038/s41598-017-13048-1
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e639ecde-3ac5-4436-b714-c5ab9b4dcd06
date added to LUP
2017-10-18 07:35:29
date last changed
2025-01-07 23:00:29
@article{e639ecde-3ac5-4436-b714-c5ab9b4dcd06,
  abstract     = {{<p>Associations between long-Term exposure to ambient air pollution and cognitive function have been observed in a few longitudinal studies. Our aim was to investigate the association between long-Term exposure to air pollution and episodic memory, a marker of early cognitive decline. We used data from the Betula study in Northern Sweden, and included participants 60 to 85 of age at inclusion, 1,469 persons in total. The participants were followed for up to 22 years, five years apart between 1988 and 2010. A composite of five tasks was used as a measure of episodic memory measure (EMM), and the five-year change in EMM score (ΔEMM) was calculated such that a participant could contribute with up to four measurement pairs. A Land Use Regression Model was used to estimate cumulative annual mean of NOx at the residential address of the participants (a marker for long-Term exposure to traffic-related air pollution). There did not seem to be any association between exposure to traffic air pollution and episodic memory change, with a ΔEMM estimate of per 1 μg/m3 increase in NOx of 0.01 (95% Confidence Interval:-0.02,0.03). This is in contrast to a growing body of evidence suggesting associations between air pollution and cognitive function.</p>}},
  author       = {{Oudin, Anna and Forsberg, Bertil and Lind, Nina and Nordin, Steven and Oudin Åström, Daniel and Sundström, Anna-Karin and Nordin, Maria}},
  issn         = {{2045-2322}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Scientific Reports}},
  title        = {{Is Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution Associated with Episodic Memory? A Longitudinal Study from Northern Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13048-1}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41598-017-13048-1}},
  volume       = {{7}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}