Tea Consumption and Cognitive Performance in the Very Old

Higher Tea Consumption is Associated With Better Performance on Measures of Attention and Psychomotor Speed in the Very Old: The Newcastle 85+ Study

Studies have found a beneficial effect of tea consumption on the reduction of risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in older aged populations. However, there is a paucity of data on these associations in the very old defined as individuals aged 85 years and over. Therefore, we hypothesized that higher tea consumption was associated with better global and domain-specific cognitive function. We investigated the relationship between tea consumption in the very old and measures of global cognitive function, memory, attention and psychomotor speed.

The Newcastle 85+ Study was a longitudinal (5-years), population-based cohort study of individuals aged 85+ years in North East England, United Kingdom. The final sample included 676 community-dwelling and institutionalized men and women recruited through general medical practices.

Baseline tea consumption was assessed through a 2x24-hr multiple pass recall and longitudinal measures of global and domain specific (memory, speed and attention) cognitive function through the standardized mini-mental state examination and the cognitive drug research system. Linear mixed models, controlling for demographic (e.g. age, sex and education) and health variables were used to determine whether tea consumption was protective against cognitive decline.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cognition
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Cognitive performance and cognitive decline

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 1042

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, NE17RU
    • Newcastle University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 85 years to 85 years (Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Community-dwelling and institutionalized men and women recruited through general medical practices in North East England, UK (n=676) and born in 1921 (85 years old at baseline).

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Born in 1921
• Permanently registered with a participating general practice in Newcastle upon Tyne or North Tyneside primary care trusts in the UK

Exclusion Criteria:

• End-stage illness
• Individuals who might pose a safety risk to a nurse visiting alone, with dementia
• Clinical diagnosis of dementia at baseline

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
low to moderate tea consumption; consumption of 0.4 to 4.6 cups of tea (200 ml) per day (n=463)	Other: Cognitive performance and cognitive decline; Assess the global and domain specific (memory, speed and attention) cognitive function at baseline and over 5 years in the high vs. low/moderate tea consumption groups
High tea consumption; consumption of 4.6 to 11.9 cups of tea (200 ml) per day (n=213)	Other: Cognitive performance and cognitive decline; Assess the global and domain specific (memory, speed and attention) cognitive function at baseline and over 5 years in the high vs. low/moderate tea consumption groups

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Standardized mini-mental state examination	Measure of global cognition (Score 0-30)	Baseline
Rate of decline of the standardized mini-mental state examination	Measure of global cognition (Score 0-30)	Baseline to 5 years follow-up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Simple reaction time	Simple reaction time assessed using the Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) computerised system. The CDR tasks were presented on a hi-resolution Windows-based laptop computer (Motion Computing LE1600 Tablet PC with keyboard accessory) and participants responded using a two-button (NO/YES) response box. The participant is instructed to press "YES" as quickly as possible every time the word "YES" is presented on the screen. In total, 30 "YES" stimuli are presented with varying inter-stimulus interval. (ms)	Baseline
Rate of reaction speed decline	Simple reaction time assessed using the Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) computerised system. The CDR tasks were presented on a hi-resolution Windows-based laptop computer (Motion Computing LE1600 Tablet PC with keyboard accessory) and participants responded using a two-button (NO/YES) response box.The participant is instructed to press "YES" as quickly as possible every time the word "YES" is presented on the screen. In total, 30 "YES" stimuli are presented with varying inter-stimulus interval. (ms)	Baseline to 3 years follow-up
Choice reaction time	Choice reaction time assessed using the Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) computerised system. The CDR tasks were presented on a hi-resolution Windows-based laptop computer (Motion Computing LE1600 Tablet PC with keyboard accessory) and participants responded using a two-button (NO/YES) response box. Either the word "YES" or "NO" is presented on the screen and the participant is instructed to press the corresponding button as quickly as possible. There are 30 trials for each stimulus word, which is chosen randomly with equal probability, with varying inter-stimulus interval. (ms)	Baseline
Rate of reaction choice decline	Choice reaction time assessed using the Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) computerised system. The CDR tasks were presented on a hi-resolution Windows-based laptop computer (Motion Computing LE1600 Tablet PC with keyboard accessory) and participants responded using a two-button (NO/YES) response box.Either the word "YES" or "NO" is presented on the screen and the participant is instructed to press the corresponding button as quickly as possible. There are 30 trials for each stimulus word, which is chosen randomly with equal probability, with varying inter-stimulus interval. (ms)	Baseline to 3 years follow-up
Digit vigilance task	Digit vigilance task assessed using the Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) computerised system. The CDR tasks were presented on a hi-resolution Windows-based laptop computer (Motion Computing LE1600 Tablet PC with keyboard accessory) and participants responded using a two-button (NO/YES) response box. Target digit is randomly selected and constantly displayed to the right of the screen. A series of digits (0-9) are presented in the centre of the screen at the rate of 150 per minute. The participant is required to press the "YES" button as quickly as possible every time the digit in the series matches the target digit. There are 300 digits in the series and the task lasts for 2 minutes. (ms)	Baseline
Rate of digit vigilance task decline	Digit vigilance task assessed using the Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) computerised system. The CDR tasks were presented on a hi-resolution Windows-based laptop computer (Motion Computing LE1600 Tablet PC with keyboard accessory) and participants responded using a two-button (NO/YES) response box. Target digit is randomly selected and constantly displayed to the right of the screen. A series of digits (0-9) are presented in the centre of the screen at the rate of 150 per minute. The participant is required to press the "YES" button as quickly as possible every time the digit in the series matches the target digit. There are 300 digits in the series and the task lasts for 2 minutes. (ms)	Baseline to 3 years follow-up
Word recognition	Word recognition was assessed using the Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) computerised system. The CDR tasks were presented on a hi-resolution Windows-based laptop computer (Motion Computing LE1600 Tablet PC with keyboard accessory) and participants responded using a two-button (NO/YES) response box. A list of words is presented on screen for the subject to remember. Immediately after the presentation the subject is asked to recall as many words as possible. 20 minutes later, the same list of words is presented with added distracter words. For each word, the subject is asked to indicate whether or not it belongs o the original list by pressing 'YES' or 'NO'.	Baseline
Rate of word recognition decline	Word recognition was assessed using the Cognitive Drug Research (CDR) computerised system. The CDR tasks were presented on a hi-resolution Windows-based laptop computer (Motion Computing LE1600 Tablet PC with keyboard accessory) and participants responded using a two-button (NO/YES) response box.A list of words is presented on screen for the subject to remember. Immediately after the presentation the subject is asked to recall as many words as possible. 20 minutes later, the same list of words is presented with added distracter words. For each word, the subject is asked to indicate whether or not it belongs to the original list by pressing 'YES' or 'NO'.	Baseline to 3 years follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Newcastle University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Tom Kirkwood, Newcastle University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 1, 2006
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 1, 2013
• Study Completion (Actual): March 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 14, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 8, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): September 12, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 12, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 8, 2017
• Last Verified: September 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: cognition; epidemiology; tea; very old; Newcastle 85+
• Other Study ID Numbers: UNewcastle

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Data request

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No