COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN DIABETIC ELDER PEOPLE WITH AND WITHOUT PHYSICAL ACTIVITY - AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disorder of glucose metabolism with serious clinical consequences. A less addressed complication of diabetes is cognitive dysfunction. Objective: To find out the association between physical activity and cognitive function among the diabetic patients. To find out the association between other selected demographic variables and cognitive function among elder patients with diabetes. Methods: 100 participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus were selected using snowball sampling method from community setting. The cognitive performance was assessed by Addenbrookes cognitive examination III. It includes five cognitive domains: attention, memory, verbal fluency, language and visuospatial abilities. The total score is 100 with higher scores indicating better cognitive functioning. Administration is carried over by face-to-face interviews. Physical activity performance of the participants is assessed using global physical activity questionnaire. The participants were instructed prior to think and recall about the different types of physical activity and the time they will spend doing that activity in a typical week. Result: There exists a strong positive correlation between cognitive impairment and energy expenditure in physical activity, duration of diabetes, educational level. There is no correlation exists between gender and age with cognition Conclusion: This study shows that physical activity has strong positive correlation with cognitive function. Hence people should adopt structured physical activity and exercise as part of their lifestyle to alleviate the negative impact of diabetes on the body and brain. Keywords: Type II Diabetes mellitus, Physical activity, Global physical activity,Cognitive function.