Offspring Sex and Parental Cognition in Mid-life and Older Adulthood (P1-3.004)

Objective: We aim to examine the relationship between offspring sex and parental baseline level of cognition and rate of cognitive decline in older adults.Background: Studies suggest a link between offspring sex and maternal long-term health outcomes, including dementia. One of the proposed explanations is male microchimerism of foetal origin. We hypothesize that mothers of at least 1 boy would have better cognition than mothers with no boys, and there would be no differences in fathers.Design/Methods: We analysed a cohort of 13,777 adults age >= 50 years from the US Health and Retirement Study. Offspring sex was classified as no boy vs. at least 1 boy in primary analysis and as number of boys (0 boys, 1 boy, 2 boys, 3 or more boys) and number of girls (0 girls, 1 girl, 2 girls, 3 or more girls) in secondary analysis. Cognition was assessed using a sum of scores from immediate and delayed 10-noun free recall tests, a serial 7s subtraction test, and a backwards counting test. Associations were evaluated using linear mixed-effects models, adjusting for 1) baseline age, sex, ethnicity, parity; 2) socioeconomic factors; and 3) health-related factors and marital status.Results: A total of 17.7% of respondents had no boy and 60.1% of respondents were female. Stratifying on parental sex, mothers and fathers of at least 1 boy had a significantly higher baseline cognition in comparison to those with no boy. Associations were attenuated in adjusted models. In secondary analysis, having 3 or more boys was associated with higher baseline cognition in fathers, there were no differences in mothers. We found a significant association of cognitive decline with number of boys, but not with number of girls.Conclusions: Offspring sex was associated with cognitive aging among both mothers and fathers, suggesting interplay of biological and social influences.Disclosure: Dr. Wolfova has nothing to disclose. Mr. Wu has nothing to disclose. Mr. Kohler has nothing to disclose. Prof. Skirbekk has nothing to disclose. Dr. Stern has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Eisai. Dr. Stern has received intellectual property interests from a discovery or technology relating to health care. Dr. Stern has received publishing royalties from a publication relating to health care. Prof. Gemmill has received research support from National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Prof. Gemmill has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving as a Consultant with World Health Organization. The institution of Sarah Tom has received research support from National Institutes of Health . Sarah Tom has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant with Alzheimer’s Association .