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Cognitive function in community‐dwelling elderly with chronic medical conditions
Author(s) -
Jelicic Marko,
Kempen Gertrudis I. J. M.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199710)12:10<1039::aid-gps678>3.0.co;2-z
Subject(s) - chronic bronchitis , cognition , depression (economics) , asthma , medicine , stroke (engine) , checklist , gerontology , disease , clinical psychology , psychology , physical therapy , psychiatry , mechanical engineering , engineering , economics , cognitive psychology , macroeconomics
Objectives . The aim of this study was to examine the effect of chronic medical conditions on cognitive function in a sample of community‐dwelling elderly ( N = 4528). Methods . A checklist of 18 chronic medical conditions was used to determine whether respondents were suffering from specific disease states. The Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) was administered to assess cognitive functioning. Results . Statistically controlling for the effects of age, education and depression, respondents with asthma/bronchitis and stroke had a tendency to perform worse on the MMSE than those without these conditions. None of the 18 medical conditions was associated with a greater proportion of respondents scoring below the cutoff for cognitive dysfunction. Conclusion . It appears that—with the possible exception of stroke and asthma/bronchitis—cognitive function in community‐dwelling elderly is not consistently affected by specific disease states. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.