Prevalence of Cognitive Impairment in Post Stroke Patients

Abstract Background Stroke is a leading cause of vascular dementia. Cognitive dysfunction strongly contributes to disability and loss in quality of life. Objective Our study aimed to detect post stroke cognitive impairment in a sample of Egyptian people with stroke, six months after the last cerebrovascular accident. Methods A cross sectional study was conducted on 120 patients with stroke, six months after the last cerebro vascular accident. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment was performed. Cognitive assessment was done using MMSE(Mini Mental State Examination) test, functional evaluation using Modified Rankin Scale and Barthel index, Diagnosis of vascular dementia by NINDS AIREN criteria (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the Association Internationale pour la Recherche et l’Enseignement en Neurosciences (AIREN)), Hachiniski ischemic scale and radiological evidence of vascular insult Results Mean age of the patients was 69.17. Prevalence of cognitive impairment assessed by MMSE was 33.3%. Age was the only factor associated with poststroke cognitive impairment in regression analysis (p value 0.01). NINDSAIREN criteria is positive in 80% of patients diagnosed to have cognitive impairment (dementia) by MMSE. Patients with cognitive impairment had depression (p value 0.03), no satisfactory sleep (p value 0.01), longer post-stroke duration (p value 0.04), higher scores in Hachiniski ischemic score (p value 0.002), more than one infarction (p value 0.03) and impaired function by Barthel Index (p value 0.01). Pre stroke cognitive impairment was significantly higher in (patients with post stroke cognitive impairment (p value 0.003 Conclusion Cognitive impairment is prevalent in stroke patients. Age was the only factor associated with poststroke cognitive impairment in regression analysis. NINDSAIREN criteria is positive in 80% of patients diagnosed to have cognitive impairment (dementia) by MMSE. Patients with cognitive impairment had depression, no satisfactory sleep, longer post-stroke duration, higher scores in Hachiniski ischemic score, more than one infarction and impaired function by Barthel Index. Pre stroke cognitive impairment was significantly higher in patients with post stroke cognitive impairment