COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT AND CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACTORS: FINDINGS FROM THE PURE-COLOMBIA COHORT

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of cognitive impairment and its association with cardiovascular risk factors in the cohort population of the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological Study (PURE) for the fifteenth year of follow-up in some departments of Colombia. Design and method: Cross-sectional study nested in the PURE cohort in participants with Mini-Cog test for cognitive screening, with a cut-off point of < = 2 points to screen cognitive impairment. We evaluate behavioral cardiovascular factors such as smoking, pathological history such as arterial hypertension, and measurements of blood pressure, weight, height, waist/hip ratio, glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, hdl, ldl, and creatinine. We stimate The prevalence ratios for cognitive impairment using a generalized linear model with binomial family and link log. Results: In 707 participants whose mean age is 64.9 (SD 9.2) years, 66.8% are women, we found that 26.8% with indicators of cognitive impairment, with complete difficulty for the clock sub-test in 24.5% and 3.9% on the memory subtest. A higher prevalence of cognitive impairment was found among hypertensives compared to non-hypertensives (63.7% vs. 41.8%, Prevalence Ratio = 1.51, 95% CI 1.17; 1.93, p = <0.001). In addition, systolic blood pressure was 9 mmHg, higher in participants with cognitive impairment (median 138mmHg vs 129mmHg, p = 0.0001) Also, the proportion of people with deterioration was higher in those who had a cholesterol greater than 200mg/dL (PR = 1.38 95% CI = 1.11;1.72 p = 0.004) and with an increase in the waist-hip ratio (PR = 3.27 95% CI = 1.21; 8.8 p = 0.019) the above adjusted for age, sex and educational level. Conclusions: More than a quarter of the participants in the PURE cohort presented indicators of cognitive impairment, its prevalence was significantly higher in hypertensive patients, in people with high cholesterol and with a significantly higher waist/hip ratio, which indicates the importance of preventing and controlling the Cardiovascular risk factors in older adults with cognitive alterations.