Fig. 2

Predicted changes in cognitive z scores during the follow-up. The black dotted curves represent participants without incident stroke. The red dashed curves represent the pre-stroke cognitive trajectories among participants with incident stroke. The red solid curves represent the post-stroke trajectories. The predicted values of the cognitive score are calculated for a 70-year-old female. Her education level is primary school. She lives in a rural area and is married but without current smoking, current drinking, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, cancer, lung diseases, heart problems, or depression. Her IADL score is zero. She experienced one incident stroke at the end of the third year