Associations between cognitive impairment and chronic heart failure in people over the age of 65: data from the Russian multicenter study EUCALYPTUS

Objective. The aim of the study was to study the prevalence of cognitive impairment (CI) and chronic heart failure (CHF) in people aged ≥ 65 years, as well as to analyze the relationship between them.
Design and methods. In the subanalysis of the multicenter EUCALYPTUS study, 3537 patients aged 65 to 107 years (average age 78,7 ± 8,4 years) were selected who had information about the presence/absence of CHF and who underwent a Mini- Cog test. All patients were stratified into 2 groups: with the presence (n = 2111) and absence (n = 1426) of CHF.
Results. The prevalence of CHF in this sample was 59,7 %, CI — 60,8 %. With increasing age, the prevalence of both CHF and CI increased significantly. Patients with CHF were on average 4 years older than patients without CHF, but did not differ by gender. In general, the frequency of probable CI (≤ 3 points in the Mini-Cog test) in patients with CHF was significantly higher than without CHF (64,5 % против 55,4 %; p < 0,001). One-factor regression analysis demonstrated that an increase in the sum of points in the Mini-Cog test for every 1 point reduces the chances of having CHF by 14 %, and the presence of probable CI is associated with an increase in the chances of having CHF by 46 %. Univariate regression analysis showed that compared with the absence of CI (reference category; odds ratio = 1,0), patients with CI had a 72 % higher chance of having CHF, whereas the presence of a moderate risk of CI was not associated with an increased chance of having CHF. However, when adjusting for age and gender in the model, all of the above associations lost their significance due to the fact that age is significantly associated with both CHF and CI.
Conclusions. Thus, the results of a multicenter study of EUCALYPTUS demonstrate a high prevalence of both probable CI and CHF among the elderly and senile in the Russian population and their relationship.

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