ASSOCIATION OF COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT WITH ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION AND RELATED CONDITIONS: RESULTS OF A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Introduction. Arterial hypertension (AH) is recognized as one of the key risk factors for the development of cognitive impairments (CI). However, the impact of the degree of hypertension and associated conditions on cognitive functions remains poorly understood, especially at the outpatient stage. Aim of the research. To study the relations between the degree of arterial hypertension, comorbid conditions and the severity of cognitive impairment in patients at the outpatient stage. Materials and methods. The study included 84 patients with established hypertension aged 40 to 80 years. All participants underwent neuropsychological testing using the MoCA scale. Blood pressure indicators, the presence of concomitant diseases (ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, previous stroke), complaints, and anthropometric parameters were analyzed. Statistical processing was performed using the StatTech v. 4.2.6 package. Results. Mild cognitive impairment was detected in 53.6% of patients, with the most pronounced impairment observed in stage 3 hypertension (p = 0.006). The presence of complaints increased the risk of cognitive im-pairment by 3.4 times (OR 3.432; 95% CI: 1.081–10.892). Also, significantly lower MoCA scores were ob-served in patients with coronary heart disease (p = 0.002) and ACVA (p = 0.023). Conclusion. Cognitive impairment is common among patients with hypertension, especially at higher levels of hypertension and vascular comorbidity. The results highlight the need for early screening of cognitive functions in this category of patients using the MoCA scale.