Stroke Is Predicted by Low Visuospatial in Relation to Other Intellectual Abilities and Coronary Heart Disease by Low General Intelligence

PLOS One: 11/7/12

Low intellectual ability is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. Most studies have used a general intelligence score. We studied whether three different subscores of intellectual ability predict these disorders.

Methods
We studied 2,786 men, born between 1934 and 1944 in Helsinki, Finland, who as conscripts at age 20 underwent an intellectual ability test comprising verbal, visuospatial (analogous to Raven’s progressive matrices) and arithmetic reasoning subtests. We ascertained the later occurrence of coronary heart disease and stroke from validated national hospital discharge and death registers. Read More