Characteristics of neuropsychological functions in inpatients with poorly-controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus

Aims/Introduction:  It has been suggested that type 2 diabetes is associated with cognitive impairment. We investigated the neuropsychological profile of inpatients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes and assessed the effects of clinical factors on neuropsychological functions.

Forty-two patients with type 2 diabetes and 32 non diabetic control subjects were matched for age, sex ratio, and level of education. Attention & working memory, processing speed, verbal memory, visuospatial memory, visuoconstruction, and executive function were tested. Information about physical function, alcohol use, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and myocardial infarction was retrieved from personal interviews and medical records.

Diabetic patients demonstrated mild cognitive deterioration in attention & working memory, processing speed, verbal memory, and executive function. In particular, neuropsychological decline became prominent when tasks related with speed and verbal stimuli became unstructured and complex. Age was significantly associated with the majority of neuropsychological tests, whereas tasks dealing with working memory and executive function were associated with age only in the diabetic group. Duration of diabetes was associated with Backward Digit Span.

Accelerated aging had a major influence on cognitive decline in the diabetic group, whereas diminished performance in working memory and executive function might have been more related to diabetes-related cognitive impairment. (J Diabetes Invest, doi: 10.1111/j.2040-1124.2011.00170.x, 2011).