Cognitive Impairment and Its Associated Determinants Among the Elderly Population of Telangana, India: An Analytical...

Dementia is an insidious cognitive disorder featuring a decline in cognition that is not well explained by the physiology of aging. Dementia includes a group of disorders that are distinguished by a gradual loss of both cognition and the capability to execute day-to-day functions.

We conducted a cross-sectional study among 384 elderly participants in areas surrounding the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bibinagar, Telangana, India. Those with more than 65 years of age were included in the study, and those suffering from serious illnesses were excluded. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) scale, the University of California and Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale, and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) were used to assess cognitive status, loneliness, and depression, respectively, among the study participants. Logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with cognitive impairment (CI), depression, and loneliness.

The average MOCA score of the study participants was 14.9 ± 6.9, with 28.6% of the participants exhibiting severe CI. Nearly half of the participants (49.2%) experienced moderate to high degrees of loneliness, and 39.3% experienced moderate to severe depression. Important factors found to be associated with severe CI were illiteracy (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 2.85, 95% CI: 1.35-4.45), urban residence (AOR: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.04-0.81), living with a spouse (AOR: 0.23, 95% CI: 0.11-0.78), not consuming alcohol (AOR: 0.35, 95% CI: 0.14-0.87), and depression (AOR: 4.49, 95% CI: 1.37-14.67).

CI is a serious public health problem in India. With the increasing proportion of the elderly population in the near future, CI levels will increase, especially in countries like India. Timely interventions such as early identification through community-based screening, the inclusion of a geriatric health component in primary health care, and proper counseling will help address this problem at a grassroots level.