Cognitive Functions in High-altitude Tribal Population: Assessment Using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) Tool.

IF 2.4 Q4 NEUROSCIENCES
Hitesh Jani, Punam Verma, Ritika Thakur, Rupali Parlewar, Priti Bhanderi, Bhoopendra Patel, Harshali Rankhambe, Navdeep Ahuja, Prashant Kumar Saini
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: High altitude (HA) environments expose individuals to chronic hypoxia, which can affect cognitive function. While studies have explored cognitive deficits in lowlanders ascending to HAs, there is limited research on cognitive function among natives of HA.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate cognitive functions in the tribal population of Himachal Pradesh India using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) tool and assess the effect of high and very HAs along with age and gender variation in cognitive functions in these HA natives.

Methods: This study included 359 participants who lived at HAs. Cognitive function was assessed using MoCA. Participants were stratified by altitude (3,000-3,500 m and >3,500 m) and age group (20-40, 41-60 and >60 years). Appropriate statistical analyses were performed to determine the association of altitude, age, and sex with MoCA total and subscale scores.

Results: Significant associations were found between altitude and performance on the Naming, Attention, Delayed Recall, and Orientation subscales (p < .001, p < .001, p < .001 and p = .002, respectively). Specifically, a significant age-related decline was observed across the MoCA total score and most subscales (p < .001, Kendall's Tau = 0.48). Gender also had a significant association with the Visuospatial/Executive and Attention subscales (p < .001 for both), with males scoring higher than females.

Conclusion: Increasing altitude was associated with lower scores on specific cognitive domains. Age is a primary factor influencing cognitive performance in high-altitude natives and is associated with lower MoCA scores. Gender differences were also observed in specific cognitive functions. These findings suggest that altitude, age, and sex play important roles in shaping the cognitive profiles of individuals living at HAs.

高原部落人口的认知功能:使用蒙特利尔认知评估(MoCA)工具进行评估。
背景:高海拔(HA)环境使个体暴露于慢性缺氧,从而影响认知功能。虽然有研究探讨了低地人上升到HA的认知缺陷,但对HA土著人的认知功能的研究有限。目的:本研究旨在利用蒙特利尔认知评估(MoCA)工具评估印度喜马偕尔邦部落人口的认知功能,并评估高和非常HA随年龄和性别变化对这些HA原住民认知功能的影响。方法:本研究包括359名居住在HAs的参与者。使用MoCA评估认知功能。参与者按海拔(3000 - 3500米和bb0 - 3500米)和年龄组(20-40岁、41-60岁和bb1 -60岁)分层。进行适当的统计分析以确定海拔、年龄和性别与MoCA总分和分量表得分的关系。结果:海拔高度与命名、注意、延迟回忆和定向量表表现显著相关(p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.001和p = 0.002)。具体而言,在MoCA总分和大多数子量表中观察到显著的年龄相关下降(p < 0.001, Kendall's Tau = 0.48)。性别也与视觉空间/执行和注意力分量表有显著的关联(p < 0.001),男性得分高于女性。结论:海拔升高与特定认知领域得分降低有关。年龄是影响高海拔地区居民认知表现的主要因素,并与较低的MoCA得分相关。在特定的认知功能上也观察到性别差异。这些发现表明,海拔高度、年龄和性别在塑造高海拔地区个体的认知特征方面发挥着重要作用。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Annals of Neurosciences
Annals of Neurosciences NEUROSCIENCES-
CiteScore
2.40
自引率
0.00%
发文量
39
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