Predicting Visual Perception and Working Memory Deficits Among Patients With Type 1 Diabetes: The Implication of Eating Attitude and Mental Health Status

Abstract

Several recent studies designate that individuals with type-1-diabetes (T1D) are at higher risk for cognitive impairment than their peers without T1D. The aim of this study was to determine whether socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, eating attitude and psycho-emotional characteristics can predict visual perception (VP) and working memory (WM) impairment in the Moroccan population with T1D. A cross-sectional analysis was carried out in adult T1D patients (N=140). The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test (electronical version) was used to evaluate the VP and WM. Moreover, patients also completed the 21-item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale to assess their mental health state. In order to evaluate the risk of eating disorders the Eating attitudes Test-26 were used. Finally, anthropometric properties and clinical characteristics were evaluated. Predictors of cognitive dysfunction were determined using the hierarchical regression analysis. The major result was that age, long diabetes duration, glycemia, HbA1c, dieting and bulimia were the potential predictors of low scores in VP and WM. Other significant predictors were cholesterol, triglycerides for visual perception. Although psych-emotional symptoms including stress, anxiety, and depression were not a significant predictors of VP and WM impairment. Furthermore, our findings showed that the more the level of stress increases, the VP and WM scores significantly decrease. This study suggests that it can be helpful for medical practitioners to screen for disordered eating behaviors and emotional symptoms as a supplemental risk factor for cognitive impairment in T1D.