ObjectiveIt is well established that chronic non-communicable diseases (CND) are linked to early cognitive impairment (CI) before or at the beginning of the old age, bringing those patients at higher risk for dementia.The aim: to evaluate CI of aged 60 or older cognitively healthy patients visiting doctors due to different CNDMethods107 patients aged 60 or older (mean age 74 years; 44 male, 63 female; 25 were visiting general practitioner (GP), 21 – neurologist (NE), 23 – pulmonologist (PU), 38 – otorhinolaryngologist (OT)) for their CND took part in pilot cross sectional study. They filled The Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ), Subjective Cognitive Complaints (SCCs), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results were compared using Pearson Chi-Square and one-way ANOVA.ResultsOT patients had higher CFQ results (M=30.7) comparing to all groups (GP M=24.3; NE M=22.6, PU M=18.3, p=0.001). PU patients had less problems with Forgetfulness (M=8.6), comparing to GP (M=11.4) or OT (M=12.4) groups (p=0.022). OT (M=9.3) had more problems with Distractibility comparing to PU (M=5.7) and GP (M=6.7) groups (p=0.011). OT had higher scores in False Triggering (M=7.9) comparing to GP (M=5.92), NE (M=5.8) and PU (4.8) groups (p=0.011).The cut-off point of row score 45 was overstepped in18.9% of OT group, 8% of GP group, but none in NE or PU group (p=0.026). Results of MMSE showed alike tendencies: PU patients (M=27.8) had higher results than GP (M=25.7) or OT (M=25.6) groups (p=0.029). CI was found in 39.1% of GP and 35.1% of OT, comparing to 19.0% in NE and 3.7% in PU groups (p=0.020). But groups did not differ by SCCs scores, even if 3 or more complains were found in 50.0% of GP, 52.2% of PU, 42.9% of NE and 71.1% OT groups. The only SCCs question where found differences between groups – limitation of daily activities: concerning about possible mistakes 62.5% of GP and PU groups would ask somebody’s help, while it would be done by 52.4% of NE and only 15.8% of OT group (p<0.001).ConclusionsCognitive health in elderly people with CND is not monitored well. About 2/3 of them have subjective cognitive complains (3 or more by SCCs), 1/4 would be named as having CI by MMSE, 8.5% have problems due to forgetfulness, distractibility, false triggering. Cognitive functions are predominantly impaired in OT group patients, however, they declare less need for helping them.
The relation of CFQ(Cognitive Failures Questionnaire) to strategies of target search or focused attention.
