Associations of Widowhood and β-Amyloid With Cognitive Decline in Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults.

Importance: To reduce the rising incidence of clinical impairment due to Alzheimer disease, it is essential to define older adults at highest risk. Widowhood may be an unrecognized factor contributing to accelerated clinical progression along the Alzheimer disease pathway among cognitively unimpaired older adults.

Objective: To determine whether widowhood status and level of brain β-amyloid (ie, the Alzheimer disease pathologic protein) are additively or interactively associated with cognitive decline among cognitively unimpaired older adults.