This study aimed to analyze the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on cognitive function of community-dwelling elderly individuals. Five-year (2016 to 2020) longitudinal data of the Korea Frailty and Aging Cohort Study (KFACS) were used. There were 1559 participants in 2016 and 1455 in 2017 aged 72–84 years. Follow-up was conducted at two-year intervals. We selected participants from the database of the 2017 and 2018 surveys for intergroup comparison over 2-year follow-ups. The number of study patients in the 2017-Group was 1027 and that of the 2018-Group was 879. In the intergroup comparison, the mean difference of word list memory score from 2018 to 2020 was −0.14, while that from 2017 to 2019 was 0.53. The mean difference of word list recall score from 2018 to 2020 was −0.25, while that from 2017 to 2019 was 0.03. These were significant even after adjusting confounding variables. In the intragroup comparison, the word list memory and recall scores from 2018 to 2020 were more decreased than those from 2016 to 2018. Conclusively, cognitive function of the Korean elderly cohort declined much more during the COVID-19 pandemic than before the pandemic, particularly in terms of memory and recall function.
Background: Constipation is one of the most common health problems among the elderly, and cognitive impairment is also a major health problem among the elderly. Identifying risk factors for cognitive impairment is important to prevent many cognitive disorders. Though studies on cognitive decline in patients with Parkinson’s disease are available, no study has explored the predictive effect of functional constipation on cognitive decline in non-Parkinson’s elderly individuals. This study aimed to determine the association between constipation and cognitive decline in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: This is a 2-year longitudinal analysis of cohort study data, including 851 community-dwellers as participants at the baseline survey who took part in the Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study and completed a follow-up survey. A neuropsychological test (CERAD-K, the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Battery) and the Korean version of the Frontal Assessment Battery were used to evaluate comprehensive cognitive function. Functional constipation was defined according to the ROME IV criteria. Analysis of covariance was used to identify the association between functional constipation and cognitive decline statistically.Results: Among the 851 participants, 8.9% had functional constipation. The mean age of the functional constipation group (78.6 ± 3.9) was higher than that of the non-constipation group (77.5 ± 3.8). Patients in the functional constipation group were more likely to have low physical activity (15.8% vs. 8.8%), polypharmacy (61.8% vs. 45.5%), and depression (30.3% vs. 17.4%). After adjusting for potential confounding factors, including age, low physical activity, polypharmacy, type 2 diabetes mellitus, depressive disorder, and baseline cognitive function test score, the mean changes in word recognition test scores from 2018 to 2020 were -0.071 and -0.524 in the no-constipation and constipation groups, respectively (P=0.009). Changes in other cognitive function tests showed a tendency to be lower in the constipation group (memory -0.138 vs. -0.489, recall -0.296 vs. -0.407, digit span -0.248 vs. -0.379, frontal assessment battery 0.281 vs. 0.12, trail making test 0.143 vs. 5.38), but were not significantly different.Conclusions: Functional constipation at baseline was associated with a decline in word recognition after two years.
Background: Consumption and cognitive impairment are the most common health problems among older adults. This study aimed to determine the effects of functional constipation on cognitive decline in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: This was a 2-year longitudinal analysis of Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study data, including 851 community-dwelling residents who participated in both the baseline and follow-up surveys. A neuropsychological test, the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Battery (CERAD-K), and the Korean version of the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) were used to evaluate cognitive function. Functional constipation was defined according to the ROME IV criteria. An analysis of covariance was used to identify the association between functional constipation and cognitive decline.Results: Among the 851 participants, 8.9% had functional constipation. The patients in the constipation group were more likely to have low physical activity (15.8% vs. 8.8%), polypharmacy (61.8% vs. 45.5%), and depression (30.3% vs. 17.4%) than the non-constipation group. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, including age, sex, education years, low physical activity, polypharmacy, type 2 diabetes mellitus, depression, and baseline Cognitive Function Test score, the mean changes in Word Recognition test scores from 2018 to 2020 were -0.07 and -0.54 in the non-constipation and constipation groups, respectively (p=0.007). Other cognitive function tests (Mini-Mental State Examination, word list memory, word list recall, digit span, trail-making test, and FAB) did not show any difference in decline between the two groups (p>0.05).Conclusions: Functional constipation at baseline was associated with a decline in word recognition after 2 years.
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