Relationship between peripheral neuropathy and cognitive performance in the elderly population

Abstract

There are only a few studies that have shown an association of peripheral neuropathy with cognitive impairment in elderly individuals. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between cognitive performance and peripheral neuropathy. From the database of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 1999–2002), each participant completed a household interview, physical performance test, questionnaire regarding personal health, and Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) to evaluate cognitive performance. The severity of peripheral neuropathy was assessed based on the number of insensate areas in both feet during monofilament examination. We used the multivariate linear regression to analyze the association of the DSST findings with insensate areas of the worse foot. There were 828 participants in our study from NHANES 1999 to 2002; their mean age was 69.96 ± 7.38 years, and 51.3% were male. The β coefficients of the number of insensate areas associated with the DSST findings were all negative values, and the absolute value increased as the number of insensate areas increased. After adjustment for pertinent variables, the correlations remained significantly negative (all P for trend <.001). In addition, subgroup analysis showed no gender differences in the negative association, but this association was not significant in obese participants ( P > .05 ) . Our study provides evidence that the severity of peripheral neuropathy is significantly negatively correlated with cognitive performance.

Neuropsychological Outcomes in Individuals With Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes

“…These results are congruent with previous studies that have found that dementia, mental health disorders, chronic pain, and sleep disorders were common in individuals following a stroke (29)(30)(31)(32)(33). In addition, neuropathy has been previously linked to chronic pain, various mental health disorders, sleep disorders, lower cognitive performance, and inhalant addiction (34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39). Given that individuals with these complications have a higher risk for these neuropsychological outcomes, preventing or improving complications such as neuropathy or stroke in individuals with diabetes may simultaneously improve their neuropsychological prospects, and therefore, should be the focus of future studies.…”

Aberrant Auditory and Visual Memory Development of Children with Upper Limb Motor Disorders

“…The outcomes obtained in this study may be particularly useful for the development of rehabilitation programs aimed at improving both motor and cognitive skills in children with upper limb motor disorders. Furthermore, these findings confirm the affectation of the central nervous system in this clinical population, as previously suggested in recent studies, thus demonstrating the causal relationship between peripheral motor dysfunction and cognitive impairment [ 18 ]. From our point of view, the evaluation of children with motor impairment is often limited to their motor dysfunction, leaving their cognitive development neglected.…”

Study on Life Satisfaction of the Elderly Based on Healthy Aging

“…The aging process is a stage of the life cycle. In some cases, there are significant differences between individuals in the physical and cognitive state of the elderly [ 3 ], which leads to the loss of cognitive and physical abilities. Life satisfaction and physical activity are two key aspects of healthy aging [ 4 ].…”