Cognitive impairment is associated with female sex, low level of education, lack of spousal relationship, and serum testosterone in type 2 diabetes

Abstract

Abstract Background: Relationship between cognitive impairment, serum testosterone, and body mass index in type 2 diabetes (T2D) is not fully understood. Objectives: To compare cognition between T2D patients and healthy controls. To determine relationship of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) with serum total testosterone and sociodemographic factors. Materials and Methods: The study was a cross-sectional case-control study. About 17 male and female T2D patients and healthy controls were randomly selected. Montreal cognitive assessment-basic (MoCA-B) was used to assess cognition; anthropometric indices were measured using standard protocols, while total testosterone was assayed from serum using competitive ELISA kits. Results: The mean age of the T2D patients and healthy controls was 51.62 and 66.76 years, respectively. About 82.35% of the T2D patients had MCI compared to 58.82% of the healthy controls. MCI was associated with female sex (P = 0.033), lack of spousal relationship (P = 0.016), low level of education (P = 0.014), and normal or high level of total testosterone (P = 0.010). Conclusion: Proportion of MCI in T2D patients is high and is associated with female sex, lack of spousal relationship, low level of education, and normal or high testosterone level.