Association of mild cognitive impairment, dementia and vitamin B12 levels in older adults

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundVitamin B12 deficiency has been associated with the development of multiple pathologies. However, it is still controversial if the deficiency is associated with cognitive impairment. Objective: To determine the association between cognitive performance and the vitamin B12 levels.MethodCross‐sectional study including 241 adults aged 60 or older, treated as an outpatient at a tertiary care hospital, who had serum levels of vitamin B12. Participans underwent a cognitive assessment and assigned to one of three groups: normal cognition (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia. Vitamin B12 levels were classified in three categories: sufficiency (>400 pg/ml), subclinical deficiency (201‐400 pg/ml), and absolute deficiency (≤200 pg/ml). Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyzes were used to assess the association between cognitive performance and vitamin B12 levelsResultMean age was 81.4 ± 8.0 years and 68% were women. The prevalence of absolute and subclinical B12 deficiency was 17.8% and 39.8%, respectively. Eigthy participants (33%) had MCI and 70 (29%) dementia. Those with MCI and dementia had lower vitamin B12 levels compaired with NC after adjusting for age, sex and education level (p = 0.019).ConclusionThis study suggests a statistically significant association between global cognitive performance and serum levels of vitamin B12 in older adults