Gerontology Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of A Coruña, ES-15006 A Coruña, Spain. jcmillan @ udc.es
Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2009;28(5):455-60. doi: 10.1159/000257086. Epub 2009 Nov 10.
To examine the prevalence of cognitive impairment in a Spanish elderly population and to analyse its association with some social and medical factors.
We randomly selected a representative sample (n = 600) of people over 65 from Narón Council (A Coruña). Socio-demographic and biomedical data were collected and cognitive status was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).
We determined variations in the prevalence from 35.2%, when age or level of education distribution was not applied, to 22.2% when they were applied. Women showed a higher probability of cognitive impairment than men. Negative correlation was observed between the age of the subject and the MMSE score (Spearman correlation rho = -0.45, p < 0.001), with the possibility of developing cognitive impairment increasing each year. For our sample, cognitive impairment was associated with an increase of morbidity and mortality in the elderly population. This association was found with the presence of dementia, heart failure, anaemia, stroke and auditory deficits.
Knowledge of the real prevalence rates, together with the establishment of adequate preventive and intervention measures, can be factors that may diminish the socio-sanitary impact of cognitive impairment.
调查西班牙老年人群认知障碍的流行情况，并分析其与一些社会和医学因素的关系。
我们随机选择了来自拉翁纳市（拉科鲁尼亚）的 600 名 65 岁以上的人作为代表性样本。收集了社会人口统计学和生物医学数据，并使用简易精神状态检查（MMSE）评估认知状态。
我们发现，在不考虑年龄或教育程度分布的情况下，认知障碍的患病率为 35.2%，而在考虑这些因素的情况下，患病率为 22.2%。女性比男性更容易出现认知障碍。研究对象的年龄与 MMSE 评分呈负相关（Spearman 相关 rho = -0.45，p < 0.001），每年认知障碍的发病风险增加。对于我们的样本，认知障碍与老年人群的发病率和死亡率增加有关。这种关联与痴呆、心力衰竭、贫血、中风和听力缺陷的存在有关。
了解真实的患病率，并制定适当的预防和干预措施，可能是减轻认知障碍对社会卫生影响的因素。
