Cognitive profile in patients with bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate the cognitive status in patients with bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods40 patients with bronchial asthma, 40 patients with COPD and 20 healthy subjects (control) were included in the study. Comparison was done between the three groups in both Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test and P300 latency. Also, correlation between these scores and patient characteristic parameters were evaluated. ResultsThere was a significant prolongation in P300 latency (P<0.04) and reduced MoCA scores in COPD group compared to asthma group (P<0.002). 34/40 COPD patients had prolongation of P300 latency and reduced MoCA scores. However, 20/40 asthma patients had prolongation of P300 latency and 24/40 asthma patients had reduced MoCA scores. P300 latency correlated significantly with age (r=0.423, P<0.007), duration of disease(r=0.622, P<0.0001) PaO2 (r=−0.490, P<0.001), SaO2 (r=−0.496, P<0.003) and degree of the disease (FEV1/FVC) (r=−0.353, P<0.026) in COPD group. MoCA score was significantly correlated with WBC (r=0.45) in COPD group and with BMI (r=0.236, P<0.05) in asthma group. There was no correlation between P300 latency and patients’ characteristics in asthma group (P>0.05). ConclusionsCOPD significantly decreased the cognitive status compared to bronchial asthma. Longer latency of P300 appears to be an expected sequel of COPD. MoCA abnormalities were comparable to P300 abnormalities in COPD and asthma patients.