Neiberg, Rebecca H.

AbstractIntroductionType 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity may increase risks for cognitive decline as individuals age. It is unknown whether this results in different prevalences of cognitive impairment for women and men.MethodsThe Action for Health in Diabetes, a randomized controlled clinical trial of a 10‐year intensive lifestyle intervention, adjudicated cases of cross‐sectional cognitive impairment (mild cognitive impairment or dementia) 10–13 years after enrollment in 3802 individuals (61% women).ResultsThe cross‐sectional prevalences of cognitive impairment were 8.3% (women) and 14.8% (men): adjusted odds ratio 0.55, 95% confidence interval [0.43, 0.71], P < .001. Demographic, clinical, and lifestyle risk factors varied between women and men but did not account for this difference, which was limited to individuals without apolipoprotein E (APOE)‐ε4 alleles (interaction P = .034).ConclusionsAmong overweight and obese adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus, traditional risk factors did not account for the lower prevalence of cognitive impairment observed in women compared with men.