Abstract: Objective To study the related factors of leukoaraiosis (LA). Methods 480 elderly patients examined with cranial CT or MRI were investigated retrospectively. A single-factor and multi-Logistic regression analysis were performed. A rank correlation analysis was performed between the severity of LA and age as well as the course of hypertension. Results The prevalence of LA was 35%. The age (t=3.243，P=0.0013) and the incidence of hypertension (χ²=9.8941，P=0.0017) were higher in LA group than in non-LA group, the incidence of diabetic were lower (χ²=4.4193，P=0.0355). The age (OR=1.06，95%CI：1.027～1.103，P=0.0006), hypertension (OR=1.15，95% CI：1.065～1.236，P=0.0003), and diabetes (OR=0.85，95% CI：0.726～0.994，P=0.0421) were correlated with LA. Neither age (r=0.1553，χ²=4.9701，P=0.5477) nor the course of hypertension (r=-0.0758，χ²=1.9076，P=0.7527） were correlated with the severity of LA. Conclusion The age and hypertension was independent risk factors for LA, but the severity of LA was not correlated with age or course of hypertension.

Key words: leukoaraiosis (LA), related factors, age, hypertension, diabetes