Differences in neuropsychological profile between healthy and COPD older persons

✍ Scribed by Anna Favalli; Antonio Miozzo; Stefania Cossi; Alessandra Marengoni

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 42 KB
• Volume: 23
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6230
• DOI: 10.1002/gps.1847

✦ Synopsis

An association among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hypoxemia and cognitive impairment in older persons has been reported. Impairments in abstract reasoning, verbal functions, speed of performing simple motor tasks, and delayed recall have been found in patients with COPD . Depressive symptoms are common both in older persons and in COPD patients and are known to have negative effects on cognition.

The aim of this study was to examine if the neuropsychological profile of old patients with COPD differed from the one of healthy elderly, independently of depressive symptoms. Twenty-one out-patients with COPD and a comparison group of 20 healthy persons, aged 65 and older were evaluated. Persons with history of cardiovascular or cerebrovascular diseases, hepatic or renal failure, major depression, dementia, psychiatric disorders, malignancy, and B12 deficiency were excluded. The diagnosis of COPD was defined as spirometric values of FEV 1 /FVC less than 70%. Arterial haemogas analysis was performed in COPD patients. The presence of depressive symptoms was evaluated with the Geriatric Depression Scale 30 items (GDS) ; increasing score indicates increasing depressive symptoms. Cognitive status was explored with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE)