Higher cardiovascular risk may correspond to measurable differences in cognitive performance across multiple domains in older adults. A cross-sectional analysis nested within the population-based NEDICES-2 cohort evaluated the association between cardiovascular risk (CVR) and cognitive performance by sex. The study, published in PLOS ONE, included adults aged 55–75 years without prior cardiovascular events. CVR was estimated using the REGICOR and FRESCO risk equations. Cognitive outcomes included premorbid intelligence, global cognition, memory, verbal fluency, visuoconstruction, attention, and psychomotor speed.

A total of 863 participants were included, of whom 56.0% were women. In women, higher CVR estimated using FRESCO was associated with poorer performance in immediate memory (OR 4.77; 95% CI 1.81-13.80), delayed memory (OR 2.86; 95% CI 1.09-7.91), clock drawing (OR 3.23; 95% CI 1.07-10.10), and Trail Making Test A (TMTA-1) timing (OR 6.92; 95% CI 2.43-20.90) and TMTA-2 timing (OR 3.89; 95% CI 1.34-11.50). Moderate versus low CVR was associated with poorer clock drawing and TMTA performance.

In men, higher CVR estimated using REGICOR was associated with lower MMSE-37 scores (OR 2.41; 95% CI 1.08–5.36), word accentuation (OR 2.90; 95% CI 1.28-6.67), TMTA-1 (OR 3.68; 95% CI 1.57-8.71), and TMTA-2 (OR 2.82; 95% CI 1.24-6.41). Similar patterns were observed with FRESCO estimates.

Higher CVR was associated with poorer cognitive performance across multiple domains, particularly memory, attention, and psychomotor speed.