Prevalence of Mild Cognitive Impairment in southern regions of Colombia

Bonilla-Santos, Jasmin and González Hernández, Alfredis and Cala-Martínez, Dorian Yisela and Gómez-Morales, Duván Fernando and Calceto-Garavito, Laura Natalia and Forero-Aldana, Arnulfo Eduardo and González-Montealegre, Rodrigo Alberto and Cardona Cumaco, Yeing Alexandra and Rojas-Bernal, Luz Angela and Zabaleta-Orozco, Mario Alberto and Parra, Mario Alfredo (2023) Prevalence of Mild Cognitive Impairment in southern regions of Colombia. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports, 7 (1). 1455–1464. ISSN 2542-4823 (https://doi.org/10.3233/ADR-230041)

[thumbnail of Bonilla-Santos-etal-JADR-2023-Prevalence-of-Mild-Cognitive-Impairment-in-southern-regions-of-Colombia]
Preview
Text. Filename: Bonilla-Santos-etal-JADR-2023-Prevalence-of-Mild-Cognitive-Impairment-in-southern-regions-of-Colombia.pdf
Final Published Version
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 logo

Download (145kB)| Preview

Abstract

Background: Recent reports suggest that by 2050 there will be an increase of around 310% of cases affected by dementia in Latin American countries. A previous study in a Southern region reported one of the highest prevalences of dementia in Latin America. Objective: To investigate the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment associated with low education, rurality, and demographic characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional study recruited a community-dwelling sample of 823 adults from rural and urban areas of two Southern provinces of Colombia from 2020–2022. Participants were assessed with a neuropsychological protocol validated in Colombia. To obtain general and region-specific prevalence rates, age, sex, schooling, and socioeconomic level were considered and controlled for. Results: Most of the participants reported low education and socioeconomic level, the participation of women was higher. It was determined that the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) was 53.6%, with 56.6% in the province of Caquetá followed by 51.9% in the province of Huila. The amnestic MCI represented 42.6%, the amnestic multi-domain was 39%, the non-amnestic 16.55%, and the non-amnestic multi-domain 1.81%. Our participants reported comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension. We also observed a relationship between exposure to pesticides and MCI. Conclusions: We observed one of the highest prevalences of MCI in Latin America reported to date. Variables such as age, gender, and education proved risk factors for MCI in the explored regions. Our findings are very much in line with recent studies that highlight the influence of non-canonical risk factors of dementia in underrepresented countries from Latin America.