Association between multimorbidity with cognitive dysfunction in a Peruvian population.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that multimorbidity is a risk factor for cognitive dysfunction (CD).Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and hypertension (HT) are very common risk factors.The association between multimorbidity due to both diseases and CD has been understudied in low and middle-income countries, in which the strength of the association might be stronger. AIM: To evaluate the association between multimorbidity due to T2DM and HT with CD among adults ≥50 years in Tumbes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A secondary analysis of a population-based cross-sectional study was conducted. The exposure variable was the presence of both T2DM and HT, split into categories without HT or T2DM, only T2DM, only HT, and with T2DM and HT; whereas CD was the outcome variable, defined as a score ≤26 in the Leganes Cognitive Test. Crude and adjusted generalized linear models were used to estimate the association of interest, and prevalence ratio (PR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were reported. RESULTS: 688 participants were analyzed. The prevalence of CD was 39.1%. There was a 56.1% of participants without TDM2 nor HT, 8.3% with T2DM, 28.9% with HT and 6.7% with both diseases. A significant association was found between multimorbidity and CD (PR = 1.43, 95%CI 1.04-1.97). Multimorbidity had a statistically significant association with CD in the group of participants with ≥7 years of education (PR = 2.56,95%CI 1.55-4.21), but no in the group with <7 years. CONCLUSIONS: There is association between the morbidity of T2DM and HT, and CD among adults ≥50 years of age in Tumbes. Education was an effect modifier of the association between HT and T2DM on the presence of CD.