AUTHOR=Pal Tunde , Iantovics Laszlo Barna , Preg Zoltan , Nemes-Nagy Eniko , Nyulas Kinga-Ilona , Baba Dragos-Florin , German-Sallo Marta 

TITLE=Risk factors for cognitive dysfunction amongst patients with cardiovascular diseases

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1385089

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2024.1385089

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Background</title><p>The impact of cardiovascular diseases on cognition raises important research questions. The study aimed to investigate the relationship between demographic data, cardiovascular diseases, kidney disease and depressive symptoms on cognition.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>A cross-sectional study of patients with cardiovascular diseases was performed. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was applied for cognitive evaluation. Based on MoCA three groups were defined: preserved cognition, mild, and advanced cognitive dysfunction (CD). Data were analyzed using Cronbach alpha (Cα) and McDonald’s ω (Mω) for internal consistency. The Chi-square test, Cramer’s V test, and correlation analyses were also applied.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>Of 628 patients, 55.2% had mild CD, and the mean age was 67.95 (SD 9.53) years. Cα and Mω were 0.7, indicating good internal consistency. We found a moderate positive correlation between depression and the severity of CD (<italic>r</italic> = 0.25, <italic>p</italic> = 0.0001). A weak association between CD and female gender (<italic>p</italic> = 0.016), atrial fibrillation (<italic>p</italic> = 0.03), stroke (<italic>p</italic> = 0.009), and a moderate association for age group (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001), education level (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001), smoking (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001), and renal dysfunction (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001) was found. Age ≥ 70 years, eGFR 30–59 mL/min/1.73m<sup>2</sup> significantly increased the likelihood for mild and advanced CD, while smoking and &gt; 9 classes decreased it. Female gender, history of atrial fibrillation, and stroke significantly increased the likelihood of advanced CD.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>Mild CD was the most common in patients with cardiovascular diseases. Older age, lower education, being a non-smoker, and renal dysfunction were risk factors for both mild and advanced CD. Female gender, previous diagnosis of atrial fibrillation, and stroke are risk factors for advanced CD.</p></sec>