Prevalence of Cognitive Decline in Individuals With Diabetes in the United States

Background Recent research indicates that cognitive decline (CD) may be associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Individuals with demographic characteristics significantly associated with CD can be prioritized for earlier screening, which could slow the progression of their CD. Objective The objective of this study is to understand the association between diabetes and CD in the US when adjusted for age, race, sex, education, and income. Methods Data for this study were derived from the 2021 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a compilation of responses from a health-related telephone survey that collects information from participants aged 18 years or older. Participants below the age of 45 years were excluded from this study because they did not participate in CD surveys. The states included were Wisconsin, Ohio, Georgia, the District of Columbia, Tennessee, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma. Frequencies and percentages were computed for categorical demographic variables. Bivariate analysis was used to determine whether diabetes and demographic variables were independently associated with CD (p<0.10). Demographic variables that were independently associated (p≤0.10) were included in a multivariable binary logistic regression model, and statistically significant variables (p≤0.05) were retained in the final model.  Results This study finds that individuals with diabetes are 1.714 (95% CI: 1.709, 1.720) times more likely to report CD when adjusted for race, sex, income, and education. Conclusion This study concludes that individuals with diabetes are more susceptible to a decline in cognitive function and therefore CD. A limitation of this study is that the data are self-reported, which may introduce recall bias. Further research is needed to understand the mechanism by which CD occurs in individuals with diabetes.