BACKGROUND: A wide range of potentially modifiable risk factors, indicating that the onset of neurocognitive disorders can be delayed or prevented, have been identified. The region of Central and Eastern Europe has cultural, political and economic specifics that may influence the occurrence of risk factors and their link to the cognitive health of the population. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to systematically review population-based studies from Central and Eastern Europe to gather evidence on risk and protective factors for neurocognitive disorders. METHODS: We searched the electronic databases PubMed, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Embase. The search was performed on 26th of February 2020 and repeated at the end of the review process on 20th May 2021. RESULTS: We included 25 papers in a narrative synthesis of the evidence describing cardiovascular risk factors (n = 7), social factors (n = 5), oxidative stress (n = 2), vitamins (n = 2), genetic factors (n = 2) and other areas (n = 7). We found that there was a good body of evidence on the association between neurocognitive disorders and the history of cardiovascular disease while there were gaps in research of genetic and social risk factors. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the epidemiological evidence from this region is insufficient and population-based prospectively followed cohorts should be established to allow the development of preventive strategies at national levels.

• MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Neurocognitive Disorders epidemiology   etiology   MeSH
• Protective Factors MeSH
• Risk Factors MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Systematic Review MeSH
• Geographicals
• Europe, Eastern epidemiology   MeSH

BACKGROUND: Nutrient status of B vitamins, particularly folate and vitamin B-12, may be related to cognitive ageing but epidemiological evidence remains inconclusive. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to estimate the association of serum folate and vitamin B-12 concentrations with cognitive function in middle-aged and older adults from three Central and Eastern European populations. METHODS: Men and women aged 45-69 at baseline participating in the Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial factors in Eastern Europe (HAPIEE) study were recruited in Krakow (Poland), Kaunas (Lithuania) and six urban centres in the Czech Republic. Tests of immediate and delayed recall, verbal fluency and letter search were administered at baseline and repeated in 2006-2008. Serum concentrations of biomarkers at baseline were measured in a sub-sample of participants. Associations of vitamin quartiles with baseline (n=4166) and follow-up (n=2739) cognitive domain-specific z-scores were estimated using multiple linear regression. RESULTS: After adjusting for confounders, folate was positively associated with letter search and vitamin B-12 with word recall in cross-sectional analyses. In prospective analyses, participants in the highest quartile of folate had higher verbal fluency (p<0.01) and immediate recall (p<0.05) scores compared to those in the bottom quartile. In addition, participants in the highest quartile of vitamin B-12 had significantly higher verbal fluency scores (β=0.12; 95% CI=0.02, 0.21). CONCLUSIONS: Folate and vitamin B-12 were positively associated with performance in some but not all cognitive domains in older Central and Eastern Europeans. These findings do not lend unequivocal support to potential importance of folate and vitamin B-12 status for cognitive function in older age. Long-term longitudinal studies and randomised trials are required before drawing conclusions on the role of these vitamins in cognitive decline.

• Keywords
• Ageing, Biomarkers, Cognitive function, Eastern Europe, Folate, Vitamin B-12,
• MeSH
• Biomarkers blood   MeSH
• Geriatric Assessment MeSH
• Nutrition Assessment MeSH
• Cognition * MeSH
• Memory, Short-Term MeSH
• Folic Acid blood   MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Linear Models MeSH
• Neuropsychological Tests MeSH
• Nutritional Status MeSH
• Prospective Studies MeSH
• Cross-Sectional Studies MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Aging blood   psychology   MeSH
• Age Factors MeSH
• Verbal Behavior MeSH
• Vitamin B 12 blood   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Multicenter Study MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH
• Geographicals
• Europe MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Biomarkers MeSH
• Folic Acid MeSH
• Vitamin B 12 MeSH