The relationship of hypertension and dementia in the elderly: A comparative cross-sectional Study

Abstract Background: Ageing and vascular factors are the dominating causes for the onset and progression of dementia. Memory declines with age and such declines can be especially worrisome to older individuals concerned about the potential onset of dementia. Objectives: In the hypertensive and normotensive, elderly medicine OPD participants, of a tertiary care centre in Siddipet, Telangana; to find out: the prevalence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI); the relation between hypertension and dementia; and memory mistakes committed. Methodology: A comparative cross-sectional study was done in 2020-21 at Siddipet GGH, Telangana State. 80 Hypertensive and 80 normotensive participants were recruited and assessed on socio-demographic factors like age, occupation, behavioral risk factors; along with measures like BMI and blood pressure. Participants were evaluated for cognitive functioning and memory failures with the help of HMSE and MMQ-ability questionnaires respectively. Results: The prevalence of severe cognitive impairment/dementia was found to be 3.75% in our study participants. A statistically significant difference was found in the distribution of the HMSE as well as memory mistakes scores (p-value <0.001) when compared between hypertensive and normotensive participants. Memory mistakes/memory failures were seen in all the participants. The highest and lowest scores obtained in the MMQ-Ability questionnaire were 73 and 18 respectively. Conclusion: This study throws light on the cognitive and memory related problems prevalent in the elderly population. More studies need to be conducted to capture the bigger picture on how these problems affect the day-to-day life of elderly.