The Prevalence of Cognitive Impairment amongst Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients at Abakaliki South-East Nigeria

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) could be associated with cognitive impairment. The spectrum of cognitive impairment ranges from mild deficits that are not clinically detectable to the most severe clinical form, dementia. Some of the potential mechanisms include the effects of brain infarcts, white matter disease, hyperinsulinaemia, advanced glycosylated end products, and Lipoprotein related proteins (LRP). There is limited data on the prevalence of cognitive impairment amongst type 2 DM patients in south –east Nigeria. Therefore, this study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of cognitive impairment in type 2 DM patients attending a diabetic clinic in Abakaliki southeast Nigeria. It is a cross-sectional, descriptive and hospital based study carried out over a three months period (October 2013 to September 2014). Mini mental state examination (MMSE) was used for cognitive functions assessment and interpreted as follows; a score of 25-30 as normal, and ≤ 24 as cognitive impairment. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19 software. Out of 499 type 2 DM patients that were screened for the study, 450 were eligible for the study with male to female sex ratio of 2 (190):3 (260). The age range was 30-89 years with mean age of 59.43 ± 9.28 years. One hundred and eighty (40%) patients had cognitive impairment with male to female sex distribution of 55 (28.9%) and 125 (48.1%) respectively. Advanced age, low education attainment, unskilled occupation and presence of diabetic complications were the identified risk factors for cognitive impairment. Mini mental state examination should be a frequent tool in routine assessment of diabetic patients as it is simple and sensitive in detecting cognitive impairment. Also, identified modifiable risk factors should be corrected.