Stroke is predicted by low visuospatial in relation to other intellectual abilities and coronary heart disease by low general intelligence.

<h4>Background</h4>Low intellectual ability is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Most studies have used a general intelligence score. We studied whether three different subscores of intellectual ability predict these disorders.<h4>Methods</h...

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Main Authors: Eero Kajantie, Katri Räikkönen, Markus Henriksson, Jukka T Leskinen, Tom Forsén, Kati Heinonen, Anu-Katriina Pesonen, Clive Osmond, David J P Barker, Johan G Eriksson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0046841&type=printable
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author Eero Kajantie
Katri Räikkönen
Markus Henriksson
Jukka T Leskinen
Tom Forsén
Kati Heinonen
Anu-Katriina Pesonen
Clive Osmond
David J P Barker
Johan G Eriksson
author_facet Eero Kajantie
Katri Räikkönen
Markus Henriksson
Jukka T Leskinen
Tom Forsén
Kati Heinonen
Anu-Katriina Pesonen
Clive Osmond
David J P Barker
Johan G Eriksson
author_sort Eero Kajantie
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>Low intellectual ability is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Most studies have used a general intelligence score. We studied whether three different subscores of intellectual ability predict these disorders.<h4>Methods</h4>We studied 2,786 men, born between 1934 and 1944 in Helsinki, Finland, who as conscripts at age 20 underwent an intellectual ability test comprising verbal, visuospatial (analogous to Raven's progressive matrices) and arithmetic reasoning subtests. We ascertained the later occurrence of coronary heart disease and stroke from validated national hospital discharge and death registers.<h4>Results</h4>281 men (10.1%) had experienced a coronary heart disease event and 131 (4.7%) a stroke event. Coronary heart disease was predicted by low scores in all subtests, hazard ratios for each standard deviation (SD) lower score ranging from 1.21 to 1.30 (confidence intervals 1.08 to 1.46). Stroke was predicted by a low visuospatial reasoning score, the corresponding hazard ratio being 1.23 (95% confidence interval 1.04 to 1.46), adjusted for year and age at testing. Adjusted in addition for the two other scores, the hazard ratio was 1.40 (1.10 to 1.79). This hazard ratio was little affected by adjustment for socioeconomic status in childhood and adult life, whereas the same adjustments attenuated the associations between intellectual ability and coronary heart disease. The associations with stroke were also unchanged when adjusted for systolic blood pressure at 20 years and reimbursement for adult antihypertensive medication.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Stroke is predicted by low visuospatial reasoning scores in relation to scores in the two other subtests. This association may be mediated by common underlying causes such as impaired brain development, rather than by mechanisms associated with risk factors shared by stroke and coronary heart disease, such as socio-economic status, hypertension and atherosclerosis.
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spelling doaj-art-bf704cf678ee4bcbae88b7690f40449c2025-08-20T02:05:35ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032012-01-01711e4684110.1371/journal.pone.0046841Stroke is predicted by low visuospatial in relation to other intellectual abilities and coronary heart disease by low general intelligence.Eero KajantieKatri RäikkönenMarkus HenrikssonJukka T LeskinenTom ForsénKati HeinonenAnu-Katriina PesonenClive OsmondDavid J P BarkerJohan G Eriksson<h4>Background</h4>Low intellectual ability is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Most studies have used a general intelligence score. We studied whether three different subscores of intellectual ability predict these disorders.<h4>Methods</h4>We studied 2,786 men, born between 1934 and 1944 in Helsinki, Finland, who as conscripts at age 20 underwent an intellectual ability test comprising verbal, visuospatial (analogous to Raven's progressive matrices) and arithmetic reasoning subtests. We ascertained the later occurrence of coronary heart disease and stroke from validated national hospital discharge and death registers.<h4>Results</h4>281 men (10.1%) had experienced a coronary heart disease event and 131 (4.7%) a stroke event. Coronary heart disease was predicted by low scores in all subtests, hazard ratios for each standard deviation (SD) lower score ranging from 1.21 to 1.30 (confidence intervals 1.08 to 1.46). Stroke was predicted by a low visuospatial reasoning score, the corresponding hazard ratio being 1.23 (95% confidence interval 1.04 to 1.46), adjusted for year and age at testing. Adjusted in addition for the two other scores, the hazard ratio was 1.40 (1.10 to 1.79). This hazard ratio was little affected by adjustment for socioeconomic status in childhood and adult life, whereas the same adjustments attenuated the associations between intellectual ability and coronary heart disease. The associations with stroke were also unchanged when adjusted for systolic blood pressure at 20 years and reimbursement for adult antihypertensive medication.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Stroke is predicted by low visuospatial reasoning scores in relation to scores in the two other subtests. This association may be mediated by common underlying causes such as impaired brain development, rather than by mechanisms associated with risk factors shared by stroke and coronary heart disease, such as socio-economic status, hypertension and atherosclerosis.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0046841&type=printable
spellingShingle Eero Kajantie
Katri Räikkönen
Markus Henriksson
Jukka T Leskinen
Tom Forsén
Kati Heinonen
Anu-Katriina Pesonen
Clive Osmond
David J P Barker
Johan G Eriksson
Stroke is predicted by low visuospatial in relation to other intellectual abilities and coronary heart disease by low general intelligence.
PLoS ONE
title Stroke is predicted by low visuospatial in relation to other intellectual abilities and coronary heart disease by low general intelligence.
title_full Stroke is predicted by low visuospatial in relation to other intellectual abilities and coronary heart disease by low general intelligence.
title_fullStr Stroke is predicted by low visuospatial in relation to other intellectual abilities and coronary heart disease by low general intelligence.
title_full_unstemmed Stroke is predicted by low visuospatial in relation to other intellectual abilities and coronary heart disease by low general intelligence.
title_short Stroke is predicted by low visuospatial in relation to other intellectual abilities and coronary heart disease by low general intelligence.
title_sort stroke is predicted by low visuospatial in relation to other intellectual abilities and coronary heart disease by low general intelligence
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0046841&type=printable
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