Neurocognitive dysfunction among type 2 diabetes patients attending primary health care in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Identification of modifiable risk factors of neurocognitive dysfunction (NCDs) that would help in preventing neurocognitive dysfunction by means of appropriate measures.

The study aims to provide an insight into the extent and cofactors ofNCDs among Saudi type II diabetes (T2DM) patients at the primary care level.

A cross-sectional study was conducted at five randomly selected primary health care centers (PHCCs) of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

T2DM patients above 40 years, who were followed for T2DM diagnosed ≥ 1 year ago were recruited. The Arabic version of the Mini-Mental State Evaluation (MMSE) was used for screening NCDs, using education-adjusted cut-offs.

Sociodemographic, diabetes-related, and other clinical and lifestyle factors were analyzed as cofactors of NCDs.

The study included 236 T2DM patients, who had mean ± SD age of 60.29 ± 9.45 years. The majority (61.0%) were female, and mean ± SD duration of T2DM was 14.1 ± 8.4 years (range = 1-45 years). The prevalence of NCDs was 35.2% (95% CI = 29.1%, 41.6%), and 5.1% of the participants had MMSE scores ≤ 10 indicating severe neurocognitive impairment. The congruence of significant sociodemographic factors delineated a high-risk profile, and multivariate regression analysis showed female gender, low educational level, longer duration of diabetes, geriatric age at T2DM diagnosis, inadequate glycemic control, and sedentary lifestyle as the independent risk factors for NCDs.

The population of middle-aged and older T2DM patients is highly exposed to NCDs, with the great contribution of other comorbidities and higher risk incurred by older, lowly educated females with long diabetes duration. Further improvements should be achieved to enhance the care offered to diabetic patients by improving glycemic control, screening for comorbidities, and early detection of neurocognitive decline.