Sex-Based Differences in Cognitive Performance in Patients with Cardiovascular Diseases

Background/Objectives: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) share common risk factors with cognitive decline. The scope of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate sex-based differences in cognitive capacity in patients with CVDs. Methods: We evaluated cognitive performance in 246 patients with CVDs using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Other risk factors, comorbidity with depression and anxiety disorders, and frailty score were evaluated, and patients were stratified by sex and age. Results: Age and hypertension were associated with lower MoCA scores for both sexes. However, diagnosis of depression, dyslipidemia, higher Body Mass Index (BMI), and fewer years of education were associated with a lower MoCA score only in female participants. No statistically significant difference was found in mean MoCA scores between male and female subjects of the same age groups. Conclusions: Sex-based differences and shared risk factors may be taken into account when evaluating cognitive performance, especially in patients with CVD.