Clinical trial NCT00631332: Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging
Official title: Effects of Hormone Replacement Therapy on Cognitive Aging: Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging (WHISCA)
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Healthy
Keywords: women, dementia, cognition.
non-demented women at least age 65
Lead sponsor: Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2008-03-07
Enrollment: 2303
Sex: FEMALE
Minimum age (years): 65
Maximum age (years): 90
Standard ages: OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: OTHER
Time perspective: OTHER
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: A subset of women who were enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS), who are at least 65 years old and not diagnosed with any type of dementia.

Brief summary: The Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging (WHISCA) is a two-armed, randomized, placebo controlled, clinical trial designed to assess the efficacy of postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) on age related changes in specific cognitive functions.

Detailed description: WHISCA is an ancillary study to the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) and the WHI Memory Study (WHIMS) and has enrolled 2303 women aged 66 to 84 years who did not meet the criteria for dementia. WHISCA is investigating the effects of hormone therapy on rates of change over time in memory, other aspects of cognition (language, attention, spatial ability), motor function, and mood.

Objectives

* Does HT protect against age-associated memory and cognitive longitudinal decline in women age 65 and older?
* What is the rate of change in memory and other cognitive abilities in women receiving HT compared to women receiving placebo?
* Does the addition of progesterone to HT modify the effects of estrogen on memory and other cognitive abilities?

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Enrolled in WHIMS
* At least 65 years old
* Not diagnosed with dementia

Exclusion Criteria:

* Women younger than 65 years of age
* Have dementia
* not enrolled in WHIMS

Primary outcomes:
measure: Determine if HT protect against age-associated memory and cognitive longitudinal decline in women age 65 and older as measured over time by a series of cognitive tests administered annually.
timeFrame: Annual assessment done annually.
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Determine the long-term effects of HT on changes in memory, other cognitive functions, and affect; and to investigate predictors of the transitions between normal aging and mild cognitive impairment and mild cognitive impairment and dementia.
timeFrame: measured over life of the study
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Winston-Salem
country: United States
facility: Wake Forest University School of Medicine
state: North Carolina
Study officials:
affiliation: Wake Forest University Health Sciences
name: Sally Shumaker, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Ammann EM, Pottala JV, Harris WS, Espeland MA, Wallace R, Denburg NL, Carnahan RM, Robinson JG. omega-3 fatty acids and domain-specific cognitive aging: secondary analyses of data from WHISCA. Neurology. 2013 Oct 22;81(17):1484-91. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e3182a9584c. Epub 2013 Sep 25.
citation: Goveas JS, Espeland MA, Hogan PE, Tindle HA, Shih RA, Kotchen JM, Robinson JG, Barnes DE, Resnick SM. Depressive Symptoms and Longitudinal Changes in Cognition: Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 2014 Jun;27(2):94-102. doi: 10.1177/0891988714522697. Epub 2014 Feb 28.
citation: Driscoll I, Espeland MA, Wassertheil-Smoller S, Gaussoin SA, Ding J, Granek IA, Ockene JK, Phillips LS, Yaffe K, Resnick SM; Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging. Weight change and cognitive function: findings from the Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2011 Aug;19(8):1595-600. doi: 10.1038/oby.2011.23. Epub 2011 Mar 10.
citation: Resnick SM, Coker LH, Maki PM, Rapp SR, Espeland MA, Shumaker SA. The Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging (WHISCA): a randomized clinical trial of the effects of hormone therapy on age-associated cognitive decline. Clin Trials. 2004;1(5):440-50. doi: 10.1191/1740774504cn040oa.
citation: Espeland MA, Coker LH, Wallace R, Rapp SR, Resnick SM, Limacher M, Powell LH, Messina CR; Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging. Association between alcohol intake and domain-specific cognitive function in older women. Neuroepidemiology. 2006;27(1):1-12. doi: 10.1159/000093532. Epub 2006 May 24.
citation: Resnick SM, Maki PM, Rapp SR, Espeland MA, Brunner R, Coker LH, Granek IA, Hogan P, Ockene JK, Shumaker SA; Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging Investigators. Effects of combination estrogen plus progestin hormone treatment on cognition and affect. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006 May;91(5):1802-10. doi: 10.1210/jc.2005-2097. Epub 2006 Mar 7.
citation: Resnick SM, Espeland MA, An Y, Maki PM, Coker LH, Jackson R, Stefanick ML, Wallace R, Rapp SR; Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging Investigators. Effects of conjugated equine estrogens on cognition and affect in postmenopausal women with prior hysterectomy. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Nov;94(11):4152-61. doi: 10.1210/jc.2009-1340. Epub 2009 Oct 22.
citation: Espeland MA, Miller ME, Goveas JS, Hogan PE, Coker LH, Williamson J, Naughton M, Resnick SM; Whisca Study Group. Cognitive function and fine motor speed in older women with diabetes mellitus: results from the women's health initiative study of cognitive aging. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2011 Oct;20(10):1435-43. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2011.2812. Epub 2011 Aug 5.
citation: Espeland MA, Brunner RL, Hogan PE, Rapp SR, Coker LH, Legault C, Granek I, Resnick SM; Women's Health Initiative Study of Cognitive Aging Study Group. Long-term effects of conjugated equine estrogen therapies on domain-specific cognitive function: results from the Women's Health Initiative study of cognitive aging extension. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2010 Jul;58(7):1263-71. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.02953.x.