Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Cognitive Function in the Elderly

Abstract

Background: Cognitive impairment is one of the complications experienced by older adults with diabetes. Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the association of cognitive function with the glycemic condition of the elderly population. Methods: This analytic cross-sectional study was conducted on individuals 60 years and over in Babol, Northern Iran, during 2014 and 2015. Sociodemographic characteristics, history of other chronic diseases, medications, physical examination, fasting blood glucose, and serum lipid profile were used for data collection. MMSE was used to assess cognitive function and GDS for depressive symptoms. Results: A total of 1,503 individuals participated in the study. The mean age of the participants was 69.07 ± 7.28 years; of them, 1,038 (69.1%) were normoglycemic (non-diabetic) and 465 had (31.9%) diabetes mellitus. There were significant differences in weight, BMI, systolic blood pressure, serum TG, LDL, and past medical history of MI or angina pectoris between diabetic and non-diabetic patients (P < 0.05). Of the elderly, 1,042 (69.3%) had normal cognition and 461 (30.7%) showed impaired cognition according to MMSE cut values. The mean of MMSE score in non-diabetic and diabetic patients was 25.51 ± 3.40 (25.30 - 25.72) and 25.02 ± 3.86 (24.63 - 25.46), respectively (P = 0.018). A significant difference was observed in the severity of cognitive impairment between the two groups (P = 0.048). Conclusions: Older adults with diabetes mellitus have poorer cognitive functions, therefore, health care providers and family physicians should pay more attention to the identification of any cognitive decline in the initial stages of diabetes mellitus.