title: Cognitive functioning in a population-based sample of very old non-demented and non-depressed persons: the impact of diabetes.
abstract: The main objectives of this study were to examine potential effects on cognitive functioning of diabetes and some major cardiovascular signs and diseases in very old age. Analyses were based on data from the Kungsholmen project and involved a population-based sample of non-demented and non-depressed persons aged 75-96 years. Diabetics (n=36) were compared with non-diabetic persons (n=356), and all participants were assessed with an extensive medical examination, specific diagnostic interviews, and laboratory blood analyses. Cognitive ability was indexed by means of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). The results showed that diabetics perform significantly worse on the MMSE than do non-diabetics, and that the MMSE-performance of elderly with cardiovascular disease (CVD) is significantly worse than in those without CVD. Controlling for cardiovascular signs and diseases did not alter the effects of diabetes. Examination of interaction terms, finally, indicated that, in the examined age range, the effects of diabetes do not vary across age, educational levels or variations in cardiovascular health. The results suggest that cognitive deficits associated with diabetes in very old age may be detected with the MMSE.
authors.affiliation: Stockholm Gerontology Research Center and Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Occupational Therapy and Elderly Care Research, Karolinska Institutet, PO Box 64 01, S-113 82 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nilsson
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fastbom
authors.forename: Ake
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wahlin