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Is carotid artery atherosclerosis associated with poor cognitive function assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Anbar, Rayan; Sultan, Salahaden R; Al Saikhan, Lamia; Alkharaiji, Mohammed; Chaturvedi, Nishi; Hardy, Rebecca; Richards, Marcus; (2022) Is carotid artery atherosclerosis associated with poor cognitive function assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination? A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open , 12 (4) , Article e055131. 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-055131. Green open access

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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To determine associations between carotid atherosclerosis assessed by ultrasound and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), a measure of global cognitive function. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched up to 1 May 2020 to identify studies assessed the associations between asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis and the MMSE. Studies reporting OR for associations between carotid plaque or intima-media thickness (cIMT) and dichotomised MMSE were meta-analysed. Publication bias of included studies was assessed. RESULTS: A total of 31 of 378 reviewed articles met the inclusion criteria; together they included 27 738 participants (age 35-95 years). Fifteen studies reported some evidence of a positive association between measures of atherosclerosis and poorer cognitive performance in either cross-sectional or longitudinal studies. The remaining 16 studies found no evidence of an association. Seven cross-sectional studies provided data suitable for meta-analysis. Meta-analysis of three studies that assessed carotid plaque (n=3549) showed an association between the presence of plaque and impaired MMSE with pooled estimate for the OR (95% CI) being 2.72 (0.85 to 4.59). An association between cIMT and impaired MMSE was reported in six studies (n=4443) with a pooled estimate for the OR (95% CI) being 1.13 (1.04 to 1.22). Heterogeneity across studies was moderate to small (carotid plaque with MMSE, I2=40.9%; cIMT with MMSE, I2=4.9%). There was evidence of publication bias for carotid plaque studies (p=0.02), but not cIMT studies (p=0.2). CONCLUSIONS: There is some, limited cross-sectional evidence indicating an association between cIMT and poorer global cognitive function assessed with MMSE. Estimates of the association between plaques and poor cognition are too imprecise to draw firm conclusions and evidence from studies of longitudinal associations between carotid atherosclerosis and MMSE is limited. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021240077.

Type: Article
Title: Is carotid artery atherosclerosis associated with poor cognitive function assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination? A systematic review and meta-analysis
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-055131
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-055131
Language: English
Additional information: © Author(s) (or their employer[s]) 2022. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Cardiovascular Science > Population Science and Experimental Medicine > MRC Unit for Lifelong Hlth and Ageing
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Cardiovascular Science > Population Science and Experimental Medicine
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Cardiovascular Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10147427
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