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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Sexual Transmission of American Trypanosomes from Males and Females to Naive Mates
Published on: January 27, 2019
A population-based study of the association between Trypanosoma cruzi infection and cognitive impairment in old age
M Fernanda Lima-Costa1, Erico Castro-Costa, Elizabeth Uchôa
1Public Health and Ageing Research Group, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation René Rachou Institute, Belo Horizonte. lima-costa@cpqrr.fiocruz.br
Background:
Limited clinical data suggest that chronic Trypanosoma cruzi infection, which causes Chagas' disease (ChD), is associated with cognitive impairment. This study investigated this association in a large population-based sample of older adults.
Methods:
Participants in this cross-sectional study comprised 1,449 persons aged > or = 60 years from a Brazilian endemic area (Bambuí). Cognitive functioning was ascertained by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), considering its score in percentiles [< or =14 (<5th percentile), 15-22 (5th to <25th) and > or =23]. Hypothesized risk factors were T. cruzi infection, ChD-related electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities and use of digoxin medication. Potential confounders included depressive symptoms, smoking, stroke, hemoglobin, HDL cholesterol, blood glucose, systolic blood pressure, and use of psychoactive medication.
Results:
The prevalence of T. cruzi infection was 37.6%. There was a graded and independent association between infection and the MMSE score (adjusted odds ratios estimated by ordinal logistic regression = 1.99; 95% CI 1.43-2.76). No significant associations between the MMSE score and ECG abnormalities or digoxin medication use were found.
Conclusions:
This study provides for the first time epidemiological evidence of an association between T. cruzi infection and cognitive impairment which was not mediated by either ChD-related ECG abnormalities or digoxin medication use.
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