The Association between Coffee Consumption and Cognitive Functioning

• Published in: Annals of nutrition and metabolism 2019-01, Vol.75, p.297
• Main Authors: Kurniawan, Mohamad Yulianto, van de Rest, Ondine, Berendsen, Agnes AM, van der Velde, Natalie, Lips, Paul, Uitterlinden, Andre G, de Groot, Lisette CPGM
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomedical materials; Coffee; Cognition; Cognitive ability; Consumption; Cups; Data processing; Diet; Domains; Executive function; Gender; Information processing; Lifestyles; Memory; Nutrition; Older people; Osteoporosis; Risk analysis; Risk factors; Short term memory; Vitamins
• ISSN: 0250-6807; 1421-9697
• DOI: 10.1159/000501751

Background/Aims: Cognitive functioning tends to deteriorate in the elderly. Its impairment is altered by factors such as age, gender and lifestyle factors. The association of coffee consumption on better cognition remains questionable. To study the association between coffee consumption and cognitive functioning in Dutch elderly in the B-Vitamins for Prevention of Osteoporotic Fracture (B-PROOF) study. Methods: Coffee consumption was assessed by the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). The participants' basic characteristics and lifestyle were also monitored. While cognitive functions were measured by several standardized tests. The association between coffee consumption and cognitive functioning were measured by hierarchical multiple linear regression. Chisquare analysis and Mann-Whitney analyses used to assess baseline characteristics interchangeably. Results: In this sample of community-dwelling elderly, almost half of the participants had a moderate coffee consumption (47.5% drank 2–3 cups/day and 41.6% drank ≥4 cups/day). With respect to such consumption and consider all possible risk factors: coffee consumption was not related with better performance on 4 of 5 cognition domains evaluating global cognitive function, attention and working memory, information processing speed as well as executive function. However, a borderline positive association was observed in episodic memory domain (β = 0.302, p = 0.077). The observed coffee-cognitive function association was significantly altered by age, gender and education level. Conclusion: No firm conclusion can be drawn directly of coffee consumption influence on cognitive function. However, positive result emerging from this study might enable the elderly to improve their cognition ability, especially in the performance of episodic memory.