ASSOCIATION BETWEEN BODY MASS INDEX, 

HYPERTENSION AND DEMENTIA: DATA FROM 
A LONGITUDINAL STUDY AMONG SWEDISH 
TWINS

O.S OLALEYE1, S.O Akande1, J.T Adekeye1, O.O Okedare2, O.O 
Babajide2

1. Department of Health Promotion and Education, College of Medicine, 
University of Ibadan, Nigeria
2. Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Faculty of Public 
Health, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
Correspondence: oladipsam@yahoo.com, +2348062311652 
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 Background
• Dementia: a syndrome with deterioration in cognitive
function

• Projected to witness global increase and may triple in

the next few decades

• Previous related studies on association between

Body Mass Index (BMI), Blood Pressure (BP) and
development of dementia resulted in mixed findings

• Current study: Investigated association between BMI,

BP and risk of developing dementia 2
 Methods 
• Relevant dataset was extracted from the Swedish
Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA); a longitudinal
case‐control study

• Data consisted two groups of twins; Cases (separated

at an early age and reared apart), and control (reared
together)

• Respondents (3838) were followed‐up from 1987 to

2010 during which 379 respondents responded to a
questionnaire and in‐person testing
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 Methods (Cont’d)
• Information elicited from participants: Socio‐
demographic characteristics, BMI and BP
• BMI: Underweight (<18.5), normal weight (18.5 –
24.9), overweight (25.0 ‐ 29.9) and obese (>30.0)
• Systolic BP: Normal (≤120), elevated (120 – 129) and
high BP (>130)
• Chi‐square: test of association between BMI, BP and
dementia
• Significance level: at 5%
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 Results
• Mean age: 74±8.9 years;

• 4.8% were diagnosed with dementia

Prevalence of Dementia by BMI No association 
6.3%
between BMI 
4.7%
and 
2.9%
development 
0.0%
of dementia
Underweight Normal Overweight Obese
weight

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 Results (Cont’d)
Prevalence of dementia by systolic  No association 
BP between BMI 
10.2% and 
development 
6.4% of dementia
3.6%

Normal BP Elevated BP High BP

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 Conclusion
• BMI and blood pressure levels had no association
with development of dementia

• More studies are recommended to further

investigate the relationship between BMI, BP and
Dementia