#6715 COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED MORTALITY IN HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS

Abstract

Abstract Background and Aims Patients on dialysis are at substantially higher risk for developing cognitive impairment compared with the general population. At the same time cognitive impairment is a strong and independent risk factor for all-cause mortality. Given that the approaches used to access the prevalence of cognitive disfunction widely vary in different patient populations, their true burden in hemodialysis patients remains poorly understood. The aim of our study was to determine the association between cognitive impairment and overall survival and mortality in patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment. Method A total of 69 chronic hemodialysis patients (47 men and 22 women) were included. The median age of patients was 61 [47-69] years. The median duration of hemodialysis treatment was 32 [21-72] months. The study of cognitive status was conducted using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) questionnaire. The test results are between 0 and 30 points. A score of 26 points or more is considered the norm, less than 26 indicates the presence of cognitive impairment. The end point was a fatal outcome from acute pathology or progression of a chronic disease. The analysis of survival and mortality was evaluated using survival tables, the construction of Kaplan-Mayer curves with the Mantel-Cox log–rank criterion. The risks of the influence of cognitive impairment on mortality were assessed using Cox regression. Results During the 24-month follow-up period, 23 patients died. Structure of mortality over the observation period: acute coronary syndrome – 6 (26 %), COVID-19 – 6 (26 %), acute cerebrovascular accident – 2 (9%), thromboembolic complications – 3 (13%), another causes – 6 (26 %). In patients with cognitive impairment on hemodialysis, the average survival value was 16.33 months ± 1.70 months [CI 95% 12.99-19.66] and 20.48 months±1.32 months [CI 95% 17.88-23.07] in patients without cognitive impairment. According to the Mantel-Cox log-rank criterion, there was a statistically significant decrease in overall survival in patients with cognitive impairment, P = .02. The mortality rate of dialysis patients with cognitive impairment was 51%, without cognitive impairment – 19%. Relative risk of death in the group of patients with cognitive impairment using Cox regression: Hazard ratio (HR) :2.90 [95% CI 1.11-7.37, P = .03]. Conclusion Our results support the notion that cognitive impairment may be an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in hemodialysis patients. There are limitations on the sample size of patients in our study. Further larger-scale observations a large cohort of patients are required.