Some reports have described general anesthesias as a risk factor for dementia in the elderly. The authors investigated whether the number of general anesthesias during a lifetime was associated with cognitive functioning in the community-based age cohort of a geographical area of Vienna. Out of 606 seventy-five-year-old subjects, 43 reported not having undergone anesthesia and 113 reported five or more anesthesias. The number of general anesthesias was not associated with extensive psychometric data. Cognitive dysfunction at age 75 was significantly associated with level of education, a history of major head trauma, and having lived in a rural environment during childhood.