Inconsistency of Association between Coffee Consumption and Cognitive Function in Adults and Elderly in a Cross-Sectional Study (ELSA-Brasil)

Abstract

Background: Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages worldwide and the effect on cognition appears to be task specific and vary by age. Method: In cohort of 14,563 public service workers (35–74 years old) we assessed coffee consumption habits and examined cognitive function using standardized neuropsychological test battery. By linear regression and generalize linear regression with logarithmic link and gamma distribution we investigated the relation of coffee consumption (never/almost never, ≤1 cup/day, 2–3 cups/day, ≥3 cups/day) in the last 12 months to performance on specific domains of cognition for adults and elderly separately. Results: Among elderly, after adjustments, coffee consumption was associated only with an increase in the mean words remembered on learning, recall, and word recognition tests when comparing the 2–3 cups/day to never/almost never category (arithmetic mean ratio (AMR): 1.03; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.00 to 1.07), and to an increase in the mean words pronounced in semantic verbal fluency test when comparing the ≥3 cups/day to never/almost never category (difference of the mean: 1.23; 95% CI: 0.16 to 2.29). However, coffee consumption was not associated with any cognitive function tests in adults and also was not associated with the phonemic verbal fluency test and trail-making test B in elderly. Conclusions: Results suggest that coffee consumption might be slightly beneficial to memory in elderly but lacks a dose response relationship. Longitudinal analyses are needed to investigate possible, even if subtle, positive effects of coffee drinking on specific cognitive domains in elderly.

Association of Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee and Caffeine Intake from Coffee with Cognitive Performance in Older Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2014.

“…In a large, population-based study of 9003 British people, Jarvis [53] found a significant positive trend between coffee intake and cognitive performance. Furthermore, studies of the association between coffee and cognitive performance also indicated that although reduced risk was related to coffee consumption in men [51], the effect was more pronounced in women [19,20], whereas some studies [54][55][56][57] showed null or adverse associations. A population-based Rotterdam study [55] of 2914 participants in a five-year follow-up, and a cohort study of 14,563 participants (35-74 years old) conducted by Araújo [56], showed null or adverse effects of coffee consumption on cognitive performance.…”

Associations Between Caffeine Consumption, Cognitive Decline, and Dementia: A Systematic Review

“…The included studies were published between 1990 and 2020, and were executed in 24 different countries (Table 1) Taipei (n = 3) [66][67][68], Canada (n = 2) [69,70], France (n = 2) [71,72], Portugal (n = 2) [73,74], Singapore (n = 2) [75,76], Italy (n = 2) [62,77], Australia (n = 1) [78], Brazil (n = 1) [79], Germany (n = 1) […”

The Acute Effects of Caffeinated Black Coffee on Cognition and Mood in Healthy Young and Older Adults

“…A number of physiological factors associated with these conditions are relevant to cognitive function in healthy ageing, as well as pathological ageing conditions such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Indeed, a number of epidemiological studies have demonstrated an association between higher coffee consumption and better performance on cognitive tests in older adults [ 8 , 9 ], as well as an inverse relationship between coffee consumption and risk of dementia/AD [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ].…”