Frequency and determinants of mild cognitive impairment among diabetic type II patients attending a secondary care hospital in Makkah, Saudi Arabia

Aim: Type II diabetes mellitus (TIIDM) is a common metabolic disorder, recent substantial amount of evidence showed that TIIDM is a risk factor for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). MCI can impede the management of patients, which can lead to increased risks of complications, functional disability and healthcare costs. The aim of this study is to measure the frequency and determinants of MCI among diabetic type II patients (TIIDM) attending the Diabetic Center at Al-Noor specialist hospital (NSH) in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Material and Methods: For this cross-sectional study, 179 TIIDM patients were recruited. A self-constructed validated questionnaire was used for data collection. The Arabic validated version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment-Basic (MoCA-B) was used to diagnose MCI. Results: Participants were equally distributed according to gender. Ages ranged from 31 to 80 years (58.6 +/- 9.6 years). The prevalence of MCI was 66.5% with 95% CI (0.6-0.7). MCI was found significantly higher in the elderly (p=0.046), in those who never practiced physical exercise (p<0.001), who had uncontrolled diabetes (p<0.001), cataract (p=0.001), diabetic retinopathy (p=0.003). Multivariate analysis showed that older patients were more likely to develop MCI (adjusted odds ratio "AOR"=1.3; 95% CI: 1.0-1.7), patients who never practiced physical exercise were more likely to develop MCI (AOR=5.4; 95% CI: 2.4-12.1), patients with cataract were at twice risk to develop MCI (AOR=2.3; 95%CI: 1.0-5.3), as well as patients with diabetic retinopathy (AOR=2.7; 95%CI: 1.4-5.3). Patients with uncontrolled diabetes had also an 11-fold higher risk of MCI (AOR=11.9; 95%CI: 5.1-27.7). Patients with hypertension were nine times more likely to develop MCI (AOR=9.3; 95%CI: 4.2-23.3). Patients with dyslipidemia had twice the risk (AOR=2.4; 95%CI: 1.2-4.8). Discussion: Mild cognitive impairment is prevalent among TIIDM patients attending the Diabetic Center at NSH, Makkah. Elderly patients, patients who had never practiced physical exercise, complicated by cataract and diabetic retinopathy, those with uncontrolled diabetes, and patients with co-morbid hypertension and dyslipidemia were at a higher risk for developing MCI.