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Decline of Language Among Women and Men With Alzheimer's Disease

^a Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center and Rush Institute for Healthy Aging and Departments of, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, IL
^b Neurological Sciences, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, IL
^c Psychology, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, IL
^d Medicine, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, IL
^e Health Care and Aging Studies Branch, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA

Liesi E. Hebert, Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, 1645 West Jackson Blvd., Suite 675, Chicago, IL 60612 E-mail: LHebert1{at}rush.edu.

Decision Editor: Toni C. Antonucci, PhD

Previous research raises the possibility that gender differences occur in language function in Alzheimer's disease, but this hypothesis has not been evaluated systematically in longitudinal studies. The authors examined the association of gender with rate of decline in language and other cognitive functions among 410 persons with Alzheimer's disease. Participants were recruited from a dementia clinic and followed for up to 5 annual evaluations. Follow-up participation among survivors exceeded 90%. Decline in a composite score based on 8 language tests was evaluated in random effects models with age, education, and race controlled. Annual decline was 0.71 standard units (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.62–0.79) for women and 0.74 units (95% CI = 0.61–0.86) for men, not a significant difference. Decline on the individual language tests and on composite measures of memory, perception, and global cognition also indicated no significant association with gender. These results suggest that Alzheimer's disease affects language and other cognitive functions similarly in women and men.

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