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Metabolic syndrome correlates poorly with cognitive performance in stroke-free community-dwelling older adults: a population-based, cross-sectional study in rural Ecuador

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Abstract

Background

Studies investigating a possible correlation between metabolic syndrome and cognitive decline have been inconsistent.

Aims

To determine whether metabolic syndrome or each of its components correlate with cognitive performance in community-dwelling older adults in rural Ecuador.

Methods

Stroke-free Atahualpa residents aged ≥60 years were identified during a door-to-door survey. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the International Diabetes Federation criteria. Cognition was evaluated by the use of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Multivariate logistic regression models estimated the association between metabolic syndrome and each of its components with cognitive performance.

Results

A total of 212 persons (mean age: 69.2 ± 7.2 years, 64 % women) were enrolled. Of these, 120 (57 %) had metabolic syndrome. Mean scores in the MoCA were 18.2 ± 4.6 for persons with and 19 ± 4.7 for those without metabolic syndrome. In fully adjusted logistic models, MoCA scores were not associated with metabolic syndrome (p = 0.101). After testing individual components of metabolic syndrome with the MoCA score, we found that only hypertriglyceridemia was independently associated with the MoCA score (p = 0.009).

Conclusions

This population-based study showed a poor correlation of metabolic syndrome with cognitive performance after adjusting for relevant confounders. Of the individual components of metabolic syndrome, only hypertriglyceridemia correlated with worse cognitive performance.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine, Universidad Espíritu Santo, Ecuador, Guayaquil, Ecuador

    Oscar H. Del Brutto

  2. Gastroenterology Department, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Robertino M. Mera

  3. Community Center, The Atahualpa Project, Atahualpa, Ecuador

    Mauricio Zambrano

  4. Air Center 3542, PO Box 522970, Miami, Fl, 33152-2970, USA

    Oscar H. Del Brutto

Authors
  1. Oscar H. Del Brutto
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  2. Robertino M. Mera
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  3. Mauricio Zambrano
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Oscar H. Del Brutto.

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Conflict of interest

Nothing to disclose.

Human and Animal Rights

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the author.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in this study.

External funding

This study was partially supported by Universidad Espíritu Santo - Ecuador, Guayaquil, Ecuador.

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Del Brutto, O.H., Mera, R.M. & Zambrano, M. Metabolic syndrome correlates poorly with cognitive performance in stroke-free community-dwelling older adults: a population-based, cross-sectional study in rural Ecuador. Aging Clin Exp Res 28, 321–325 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-015-0404-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-015-0404-6

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