In this study we examined the independent and interactive effects
of lifetime patterns of drinking and smoking on cognitive
performance in elderly African Americans. A sample of 230
individuals with varying histories of alcohol and cigarette
use was drawn from the Hillsborough Elder African American Life
Study, a community-based, cross-sectional study of older adults
aged 60 to 84. Dependent variables were the results of a
neuropsychological battery that provided measures of general
cognitive ability, executive function, and memory. Specifically,
our study addressed (1) whether individuals with a lifetime
history of sustained smoking and/or drinking show lower
levels of cognitive performance in comparison to lifetime
abstainers, (2) whether cumulative lifetime doses of alcohol
or cigarettes, or of the two substances in interaction, have
an effect on cognition, and (3) whether individuals who have
histories of periodic, intense use of either alcohol or cigarettes
show lower levels of cognitive performance in comparison to
lifetime abstainers. When significant results were obtained,
effect sizes were small, not exceeding 5% of the variance. A
single exception occurred for the intensity analyses, in which
drinking explained approximately 16% of the variance in global
cognitive ability after adjusting for the contributions of control
variables. In these analyses, drinking was found to have a
U-shaped effect on global cognitive ability and total
acquisition in the memory trials. Specifically, moderate users
performed at a lower level than abstainers or heavy users, who
did not differ from each other. (JINS, 2003, 9,
690–697.)