Risk factors for postoperative cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients requiring general anesthesia

Objective To identify the risk factors for postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD).in the elderly patients requiring general anesthesia.Methods Three hundred elderly patients,aged 65-80 yr,scheduled for thoracic or abdominal surgery under general anesthesia,were enrolled in this study.Cognitive function was assessed by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) at 1 day before operation and 3 days after operation.The patients were diagnosed as having POCD if MMSE ＜ 21.The patients were assigned into POCD and non-POCD group.The general data,fasting plasma glucose,glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAlc) and blood pressure were measured.If there was no significant difference between the 2 groups,the factor was analyzed using logistic regression to select the risk factor for the incidence of POCD.Results Ninety-eight patients developed POCD (32.7 ％).Logistic regression model showed that older age,diabetes and hypertension were independent risk factors for POCD (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Older age,diabetes and hypertension are independent risk factors for POCD in the elderly patients requiring general anesthesia. Key words: Cognition disorders;  Postoperative complications;  Anesthesia, general;  Aged ;  Risk factors