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Cognitive impairment in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: prevalence and related clinical factors

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Abstract

Aim

Diabetes mellitus is reported to be a risk factor for dementia. We evaluated the cognitive function in elderly diabetic patients and estimated the prevalence of patients with cognitive impairment and looked for any related clinical factors.

Subjects and methods

Using 281 elderly (65 years of age or older) Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were free of clinically evident cognitive impairment, we evaluated their cognitive function with the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE).

Results

The MMSE score of all the participants was 27.3 ± 2.4 with 31.3% of them being in the abnormal range (tentatively defined normal range as having an MMSE score of 27–30). Multiple regression analysis disclosed that fasting serum non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA), estimated glomerular filtration ratio (eGFR) and insulin treatment were significantly related factors for the MMSE score, in addition to age and schooling history, which are extremely strong factors.

Conclusions

We revealed that approximately one-third of elderly type 2 diabetic patients who were free of clinically evident cognitive impairment had impaired cognitive function, demonstrating that the MMSE score was significantly correlated with fasting NEFA level, renal function, insulin treatment, age and schooling history.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Center for Diabeters, Fuchu Hospital, Seichokai Social Medical Corporation, 1-10-17 Hiko-cho, Izumi-shi, Osaka, 594-0076, Japan

    Yuko Murata, Yoshiki Kadoya & Shoichi Yamada

  2. Institute for Diabetes, Fuchu Hospital, Seichokai Social Medical Corporation, 1-10-17 Hiko-cho, Izumi-shi, Osaka, 594-0076, Japan

    Tokio Sanke

Authors
  1. Yuko Murata
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  2. Yoshiki Kadoya
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  3. Shoichi Yamada
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  4. Tokio Sanke
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tokio Sanke.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Human rights statement and informed consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standard of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with Helsinki Declaration of 1964 and later versions. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Murata, Y., Kadoya, Y., Yamada, S. et al. Cognitive impairment in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: prevalence and related clinical factors. Diabetol Int 8, 193–198 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13340-016-0292-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13340-016-0292-9

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