Abstract
We examined the relationship between type 2 diabetes mellitus and cognitive function in a population-based sample of very old people. The sample comprised 338 persons, aged 80-93 years (mean age 83.5 years), of whom 70 persons had type 2 diabetes mellitus. Measures of cognitive functioning included tests of perceptual speed, visuo-spatial ability, inductive reasoning, short-term memory, semantic memory, episodic memory, and the Mini-Mental State Examination. Regression analyses showed that type 2 diabetes mellitus duration was related to test performance across all cognitive domains, with the exception of short-term memory, such that longer duration was associated with lower test performance. When cases with dementia were excluded from the sample, further analyses showed that diabetes duration was not associated with cognitive test performance. This indicates that diabetes is not related to lower cognitive function in the general population of non-demented old people. Diabetes, however, increases the risk for cerebrovascular incidents, like stroke, that may contribute to vascular dementia.
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