Relationship between chronic diseases and cognitive function in elderly patients of high intellectuals / 上海预防医学

ABSTRACT

Objective To determine the relationship between chronic diseases and cognitive function in elderly patients, for the purpose of preventing and alleviating cognitive malfunction. Methods A total of 100 retired high intellectuals with age older than 65 years were enrolled.They were hospitalized in Zhongshan Hospital and were requested to complete a conventional questionnaire.Cognitive function was evaluated by Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) Scale.Their chronic diseases including hypertension, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus were recorded and compared among subjects with different cognitive function levels. Results Based on MoCA Scale, 34 cases were sorted as having normal cognitive function, 50 cases as mild cognitive impairment, and 16 cases as moderate cognitive impairment.Patients with moderate cognitive impairment showed a significantly higher percentage of hypertension (93.8%), coronary artery disease (75.0%), stroke (56.3%), diabetes mellitus (56.3%) while the patients with normal cognitive function exhibited relatively lower percentage of the above-mentioned diseases (61.8%, 41.2%, 17.6%, 20.6%, respectively, P < 0.05).However such difference was not observed for respiratory disease and neoplastic disease among patients with different cognitive conditions (P>0.05).In addition, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases were found to be important risk factors of mild-to-moderate cognitive impairment (P=0.002). Conclusion Prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases could be imperative to alleviate the process of cognitive impairment.