Prevalence of Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in a rural Indian population and its association with hypertension, diabetes and depression

Abstract Background Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a transitional phase between normal cognitive ageing and dementia. The prevalence of MCI in rural populations is an understudied area. Risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, and depression are more prevalent in rural areas, which can contribute to the development of MCI (Longfei et al , 2020). The purpose of this study is to find out the prevalence of MCI amongst a rural cohort and to study the relationship between MCI and hypertension, diabetes and depression. Method Cross sectional analysis on the subset of data taken from ongoing longitudinal study on dementia named Srinivaspura Aging, Neuro Senescence and COGnition (SANSCOG) (Sundarakumar et al , 2020), which has a target of 10000 participants. MCI was diagnosed in the subject whose Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) score was 0.5, as per the NIA‐AA (National Institute on Aging‐Alzheimer’s Association) criteria, 2011. Presence of hypertension and diabetes were collected through a structured clinical questionnaire. Depression was assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale 30 (GDS‐30) and a score above 9 was considered as depression. Chi‐square analysis(χ2) was used to study the association between MCI and hypertension, diabetes and depression. Result A total of 3789 participants were examined amongst which 293 had a CDR score of 0.5, indicating presence of MCI in 7.7% of the study group. Prevalence of depression in non‐MCI and MCI subjects was 14.91% and 30.73% respectively and depression was found to be significantly associated with MCI(χ2 = 24.522, p< 0.001). Hypertension was seen in 13.83% of non‐MCI subjects and in 17.76% of subjects with MCI. Diabetes was seen in 16.93% of non‐MCI subjects and in 18.25% of subjects with MCI. Both hypertension (χ2 = 2.086, p = 0.149) and diabetes (χ2 = 0.195, p = 0.659) were not significantly associated with MCI. Conclusion Depression was significantly associated with MCI. It is known that late onset depression, which is diagnosed above the age of 50, may be a predisposing factor for dementia in later life. Our results may indicate this relationship between depression and cognitive impairment. However, further longitudinal studies are necessary to evaluate causal relationship.