Cardiac function and cognition in older community‐dwelling cardiac patients

• Published in: Psychogeriatrics Vol. 17; no. 6; pp. 356 - 363
• Main Authors: Eggermont, Laura H.P., Aly, Mohamed F.A., Vuijk, Pieter J., de Boer, Karin, Kamp, Otto, van Rossum, Albert C., Scherder, Erik J.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 01-11-2017; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; ageing; Calcification; cardiac function; Cardiovascular Diseases - physiopathology; cognition; Cognition - physiology; Cognitive ability; Echocardiography; Executive function; Executive Function - physiology; Female; Geriatric psychology; Heart; Heart diseases; Humans; Independent Living; Learning; Male; Memory; Memory - physiology; Netherlands; Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data; Regression Analysis; Ventricle; ageing; cardiac function; cognition; echocardiography
• ISSN: 1346-3500; 1479-8301
• DOI: 10.1111/psyg.12245

Background
Cognitive deficits have been reported in older cardiac patients. An underlying mechanism for these findings may be reduced cardiac function. The relationship between cardiac function as represented by different echocardiographic measures and different cognitive function domains in older cardiac patients remains unknown.
Methods
An older (≥70 years) heterogeneous group of 117 community‐dwelling cardiac patients under medical supervision by a cardiologist underwent thorough echocardiographic assessment including left ventricular ejection fraction, cardiac index, left atrial volume index, left ventricular mass index, left ventricular diastolic function, and valvular calcification. During a home visit, a neuropsychological assessment was performed within 7.1 ± 3.8 months after echocardiographic assessment; the neuropsychological assessment included three subtests of a word‐learning test (encoding, recall, recognition) to examine one memory function domain and three executive function tests, including digit span backwards, Trail Making Test B minus A, and the Stroop colour–word test.
Results
Regression analyses showed no significant linear or quadratic associations between any of the echocardiographic functions and the cognitive function measures.
Conclusions
None of the echocardiographic measures as representative of cardiac function was correlated with memory or executive function in this group of community‐dwelling older cardiac patients. These findings contrast with those of previous studies.