title: Mild cognitive dysfunction does not affect diabetes mellitus control in minority elderly adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus and cognitive dysfunction have poorer metabolic control of glycosylated hemoglobin, systolic blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol than those without cognitive dysfunction.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A minority cohort in New York City previously recruited for a trial of telemedicine.
  
  
  METHODS
  Persons aged 73.0 ± 3.0 (N = 613; 69.5% female; 82.5% Hispanic, 15.5% non-Hispanic black).
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were classified with executive or memory dysfunction based on standardized score cutoffs (<16th percentile) for the Color Trails Test and Selective Reminding Test. Linear mixed models were used to compare repeated measures of the metabolic measures and evaluate the rates of change in individuals with and without dysfunction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 613 participants, 331 (54%) had executive dysfunction, 202 (33%) had memory dysfunction, and 96 (16%) had both. Over a median of 2 years, participants with executive or memory dysfunction did not exhibit significantly poorer metabolic control than those without executive function or memory type cognitive dysfunction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cognitive dysfunction in the mild range did not seem to affect diabetes mellitus control parameters in this multiethnic cohort of older adults with diabetes mellitus, although it cannot be excluded that cognitive impairment was overcome through assistance from formal or informal caregivers. It is possible that more-severe cognitive dysfunction could affect control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland; Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Priya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Palta
authors.forename: Sherita H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Golden
authors.forename: Jeanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Teresi
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Palmas
authors.forename: Ruth S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Weinstock
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shea
authors.forename: Jennifer J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Manly
authors.forename: Jose A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Luchsinger
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D003710:Demography; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017216:Telemedicine
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin
keywords: cognition; control; diabetes mellitus; elderly