Assessment of Cognitive Functions in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients - An Egyptian Sample

Abstract Background Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a lifelong condition characterized by chronic intestinal inflammation, leading to abdominal pain, diarrhea, malnutrition, and premature mortality. In addition to the classic extraintestinal manifestations, such as joint disease and eye disease, there has been some evidence that IBD affects the brain. To date, however, the presence of cognitive impairment has not been systematically established. Objective To evaluate the cognitive functions in IBD patients compared to healthy control and study the factors of cognitive impairment in IBD patients. Patients and Methods This was a cross-sectional study which was carried out in The IBD outpatient clinic at Tropical Medicine department, Ain Shams University Hospitals. A total of 70 patients were enrolled, 50 of whom were ulcerative colitis patients and 20 patients had Crohn’s disease during the interval between August 2022 and January 2023. Results The included patients in our study were predominantly males (60%) while there were 28 female patients, and about 58.9% did not have formal education beyond 9 years. Our study showed that the marital status affected patients’ cognitive functions, where unmarried people showed more cognitive impairment whether divorced (having mean MMSE Score of 21 SD 2.8) or widowed (having mean MMSE score of 24.5, SD 4.95), both of which score ranges reflected mild cognitive impairment. This study showed that the older the patient, the more cognitive impairment was observed. Conclusion 8.6 % of IBD patients showed cognitive impairment. The mild deficit in global cognitive functions, that has been observed among the IBD patients, who are in remission, is associated with older age, marital status, and the presence of extra-intestinal manifestations.