Cognitive impairment and COVID‐19 in an urban indigenous community from Amazonas

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundLike all minority groups worldwide, indigenous populations were most impacted by the COVID‐19 pandemic, especially in low‐middle income countries (LMICs). However, little is known about the relationship between previous COVID‐19 and cognitive performance. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of cognitive impairment and its relationship with previous COVID‐19 in indigenous mid‐aged and older adults.MethodsUsing a cross‐section approach, 134 indigenous people, 50 years and older, from an urban dwelling community located in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, were evaluated for cognitive impairment and previous covid‐19 disease. Cognitive impairment (CI) was based on consensus diagnostic guided by the following criteria: 1) scores on Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) ≤ 14 for illiterate subjects and ≤ 19 for literate subjects (mean minus two standard deviations); 2) scores ≤ 8 on verbal fluency or ≤ 7 on delayed recall on the Brief Battery for Cognitive Screening. All those tests and criteria were already used in Brazil’s previously indigenous community and population with a low‐education level.Results30.6% of the urban indigenous community met the criteria for cognitive impairment, among them 48.8% tested positive for COVID‐19 since the pandemic has started. Logistic regression show that low education increases the changes of cognitive impairment (OD = 0.839; 95% CI = 0.748 – 0.942; p = 0.003) while previous COVID‐19 did not (OD = 0.495; 95% CI = 0.224 – 1.094; p = 0.082).ConclusionThe prevalence of cognitive impairment in an urban community of Brazilian indigenous people increased in older adults with lower education levels regardless of previous COVID‐19.