Aims/hypothesis The aim of this study was to investigate the association between visit-to-visit variability in HbA 1c and cognitive function decline in the elderly population. Methods We performed a pooled analysis of two prospective population-based cohorts (the Health Retirement Study [HRS] and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing [ELSA]). Cognitive function, including memory and executive function, were assessed at baseline and every 2 years, while HbA 1c levels were assessed at baseline and every 4 years. Visit-to-visit variability (VVV) in HbA 1c was calculated using the CV, SD and variation independent of the mean (VIM) during the follow-up period. Linear mixed models were used to evaluate the association between HbA 1c variability and cognitive function decline with adjustment for demographics, mean HbA 1c , education, smoking, alcohol consumption, BMI, baseline hypertension, baseline diabetes status and HDL-cholesterol. Results The study enrolled 6237 participants (58.23% women, mean age 63.38 ± 8.62 years) with at least three measurements of HbA 1c. The median follow-up duration was 10.56 ± 1.86 years. In the overall sample, compared with the lowest quartile of HbA 1c variability, participants in the highest quartile of HbA 1c variability had a significantly worse memory decline rate (−0.094 SD/year, 95% CI −0.185, −0.003) and executive function decline rate (−0.083 SD/year, 95% CI −0.125, −0.041), irrespective of mean HbA 1c values over time. Among individuals without diabetes, each 1-SD increment in HbA 1c CV was associated with a significantly higher rate of memory z score decline (−0.029, 95% CI −0.052, −0.005) and executive function z score decline (−0.049, 95% CI −0.079, −0.018) in the fully adjusted model. Conclusions/interpretation We observed a significant association between long-term HbA 1c variability and cognitive decline among the non-diabetic population in this study. The effect of maintaining steady glucose control on the rate of cognitive decline merits further investigation.