The Impact of Medication Compliance on mild Cognitive Impairment in Hypertensive Individuals: A Cohort Study

Objectives: The study was designed to evaluate if antihypertensive drug compliance has a protective role against mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Further to assess the prevalence and factors associated with MCI among older adults in Indian population. Our study also focused on serum creatinine level correlation with blood pressure and cognitive impairment. Materials and Methods: The investigation was carried out at multi-specialty hospitals. The experimental protocol was approved by Ethical Committee constituted as per guidelines of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). 168 subjects were enrolled, having age≥50 years and with hypertension≥ 5 years; does not meet the diagnostic criteria for dementia as defined by ICD-10. Subjects were assessed by using Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) for MCI, further assessed by various cognitive domain specific tests. Statistical analysis: Analysis was done using SPSS software version 25.0. Results: Females dominated the study population with a mean age of 59.92± 8.52 yrs. 57.73 percent of population belongs to rural background. Cognitive impairment was more prevalent in non-complaint group (85.9%) than in compliant group (49%). Mean MMSE score of non-complaint group 25.53± 2.54 compared to 27.30± 1.90 in complaint group (p< 0.001) and mean MoCA score was 22.39± 3.28 compared to 24.93± 2.43 in complaint group (p< 0.001). Cognition sub- domains were found to be affected. Conclusion: In accordance with above study compliance/adherence to antihypertensive medicines indicates a protective effect on brain cognition. Because hypertension patients experience cognitive deterioration at a high rate, a thorough cognitive assessment is necessary as part of an overall evaluation.