Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
Department of Radiology, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
J Clin Neurosci. 2019 Oct;68:194-200. doi: 10.1016/j.jocn.2019.06.011. Epub 2019 Jul 10.
Carotid artery disease which includes carotid artery stenosis, plaques, clots and increased intima media thickness, have been reported by many studies to be associated with dementia. Dementia is an end stage of usually asymptomatic cognitive impairment. Risk factors of carotid artery disease include; age, atherosclerosis, arteriosclerosis, shorter years in school, history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, stroke and depression. This study set out to determine the prevalence of abnormal carotid ultrasound findings and their association with cognitive function among the adults ≥60 years in Wakiso district, Uganda in 2018. A total of 210 participants were included. Carotid artery stenosis, presence of plaque, stenosis and intima-media thickness were assessed by ultrasound. Cognitive status was assessed using a Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) test. The prevalence of plaque was 21.4%. Variables which included; presence of plaque, age, education, gender, marital status, whether participant stayed alone or with someone else, care for self, occupation status, division of staying and history of smoking. The presence of plaque was associated with an abnormal cognitive function at both univariate and multivariate analysis with respective OR = 3.8 (95% CI = 1.90-7.54, p-value = 0.0001) and OR = 3.4 (95% CI = 1.38-8.15, p-value = 0.007). The cognitive function distribution was 43.8%, 19%, 34.3% and 2.9% within the normal, mild, moderate, and severe cognitive function status respectively. This study showed that prevalence of carotid artery plaque was high in this elderly population in Wakiso district Uganda. Also, carotid artery plaque was associated with abnormal cognitive function.
颈动脉疾病包括颈动脉狭窄、斑块、血栓和内膜中层增厚，许多研究表明它与痴呆有关。痴呆是通常无症状的认知障碍的终末阶段。颈动脉疾病的危险因素包括：年龄、动脉粥样硬化、动脉硬化、受教育年限较短、高血压史、糖尿病、中风和抑郁。本研究旨在确定 2018 年在乌干达瓦基索地区 60 岁以上成年人中异常颈动脉超声结果的流行情况及其与认知功能的关系。共有 210 名参与者。颈动脉狭窄、斑块存在、狭窄和内膜中层厚度通过超声评估。认知状态通过简易精神状态检查（MMSE）测试进行评估。斑块的患病率为 21.4%。包括斑块存在、年龄、教育程度、性别、婚姻状况、参与者是否独自或与他人居住、自我护理、职业状况、居住分区和吸烟史等变量。在单变量和多变量分析中，斑块的存在与异常认知功能相关，相应的 OR=3.8（95%CI=1.90-7.54，p 值=0.0001）和 OR=3.4（95%CI=1.38-8.15，p 值=0.007）。认知功能分布分别为正常、轻度、中度和重度认知功能状态的 43.8%、19%、34.3%和 2.9%。本研究表明，乌干达瓦基索地区老年人群中颈动脉斑块的患病率较高。此外，颈动脉斑块与认知功能异常有关。
