Risk factors associated with the development of cognitive impairment in hypertensive older adults
Keywords:
Arterial hypertension; cognitive decline; elderly; risk factors; case-control study.Abstract
The Hypertension (HTN) in older adults is a public health challenge because it entails not only cardiac and vascular complications but is also associated with cognitive decline. To identify the risk factors associated with the development of cognitive impairment in hypertensive older adults at the Carlos J. Finlay polyclinic in the Songo-La Maya municipality, an observational, analytical, retrospective, case-control study was conducted from January 2023 to December 2024. The study population consisted of 1032 hypertensive older adults, from which 190 cases (with cognitive impairment) and 380 controls (without cognitive impairment) were selected through simple random sampling. The Chi-square homogeneity test was applied at a 5 % significance level, and the Odds Ratio (OR) was calculated with a 95 % confidence interval. Older adults aged 80 years or older had a 4.3-fold higher probability of developing cognitive impairment than those under 80 (OR = 4.30; 95 % CI: 2.85-6.49; p < 0.001); no association was found between sex and cognitive impairment (OR = 1.32; 95 % CI: 0.93-1.87; p = 0.073); patients living alone or with another older adult had a 2.4-fold higher probability of cognitive impairment (OR = 2.41; 95 % CI: 1.67-3.47; p < 0.05); and older adults with 10 or more years of HTN duration had a 7.73-fold higher probability of cognitive impairment (OR = 7.73; 95 % CI: 5.15-11.59; p < 0.001). It is concluded that the risk factors associated with hypertension identified in the study population are closely related to cognitive impairment, highlighting advanced age, living alone, and, primarily, prolonged HTN duration.
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