Recent interdisciplinary research is focused on determining the associations and interactions among cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, cardiovascular risk factors and non-pathological cognitive ageing (Waldstein and Elias 2003). The aim of this research was to examine the relationship among biological cardiovascular risk factors and cognitive function in the elderly. Subjects were 505 residents of 11 retirement homes in Zagreb, Croatia, 138 men (27.3%) and 367 women (72.7%), aged 56 to 96 (average 78 years), mobile and not diagnosed with dementia. Measures were: sociodemographic and health status data, Activities of Daily Living Scale, Cognitive Assessment Scale of the Clifton Assessment Procedures for Elderly and biochemical analyses of vein blood samples. Data were collected individually, in the institution, by laboratory technicians, medical doctors and trained interviewers. Small but significant correlation coefficients were determined among observed biological variables and cognitive function. Three extracted factors suggest that biological variables partly determine cognitive function in old age. These results may have an impact on the prevention or delay of cognitive impairment in old age.

cardiovascular risk factors, biological variables, cognitive function, ageing