Domain-specific cognitive impairment in patients with COPD and control subjects

• Published in: International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Vol. 12; pp. 1 - 11
• Main Authors: Cleutjens, Fiona AHM, Franssen, Frits ME, Spruit, Martijn A, Vanfleteren, Lowie EGW, Gijsen, Candy, Dijkstra, Jeanette B, Ponds, Rudolf WHM, Wouters, Emiel FM, Janssen, Daisy JA
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Zealand Dove Medical Press Limited 01.01.2017; Dove Medical Press Ltd; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anxiety; Body mass index; Brain damage; Care and treatment; Case-Control Studies; Chi-Square Distribution; Chronic obstructive lung disease; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Cognition; Cognition Disorders - diagnosis; Cognition Disorders - epidemiology; Cognition Disorders - physiopathology; Cognition Disorders - psychology; Cognitive ability; Cognitive disorders; cognitive domains; cognitive functioning; cognitive impairment; comorbidities; Comorbidity; Complications and side effects; COPD; Cost of Illness; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dementia; Development and progression; Education; Female; Flexibility; Gender; Heart attacks; Humans; Independent sample; Information processing; Intelligence tests; Interdisciplinary aspects; Linear Models; Logistic Models; Longitudinal studies; Lung - physiopathology; Male; Memory; Mental depression; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Netherlands - epidemiology; Neuropsychology; Original Research; Patients; Population; Prevalence; Psychomotor Performance; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - diagnosis; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - epidemiology; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - physiopathology; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive - psychology; Quality of Life; Rehabilitation; Risk Factors; Sleep apnea; Smoking; Surveys and Questionnaires; Time Factors; Young Adult; cognitive impairment; cognitive functioning; comorbidities; cognitive domains; COPD
• ISSN: 1178-2005; 1176-9106; 1178-2005
• DOI: 10.2147/COPD.S119633

Impaired cognitive function is increasingly recognized in COPD. Yet, the prevalence of cognitive impairment in specific cognitive domains in COPD has been poorly studied. The aim of this cross-sectional observational study was to compare the prevalence of domain-specific cognitive impairment between patients with COPD and non-COPD controls. A neuropsychological assessment was administered in 90 stable COPD patients and 90 non-COPD controls with comparable smoking status, age, and level of education. Six core tests from the Maastricht Aging Study were used to assess general cognitive impairment. By using -scores, compound scores were constructed for the following domains: psychomotor speed, planning, working memory, verbal memory, and cognitive flexibility. General cognitive impairment and domain-specific cognitive impairment were compared between COPD patients and controls after correction for comorbidities using multivariate linear and logistic regression models. General cognitive impairment was found in 56.7% of patients with COPD and in 13.3% of controls. Deficits in the following domains were more often present in patients with COPD after correction for comorbidities: psychomotor speed (17.8% vs 3.3%; <0.001), planning (17.8% vs 1.1%; <0.001), and cognitive flexibility (43.3% vs 12.2%; <0.001). General cognitive impairment and impairments in the domains psychomotor speed, planning, and cognitive flexibility affect the COPD patients more than their matched controls.