Is Cognition a Determinant of Health Related Quality of Life in Community Dwelling Non Demented Elderly?

Quality of life (QOL) is an important topic in social and medical sciences, it has a multidimensional nature and is influenced by many factors. Aim of the Work: In this study we want to assess the impact of cognitive impairment on the health related quality of life (HR-QOL) of community dwelling non demented elderly. Subject and Method: 115 non demented elderly, 60 years and older recruited from outpatient geriatric clinic at Al Mansoura General Hospital, Dakahlia, Egypt. Each participant underwent, comprehensive geriatric assessment, assessing cognitive function using the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and montreal cognitive function test, assessing the health related quality of life (HR-QOL) by the RAND-36 health survey. Results: We found that the elderly with impaired cognition by both MMSE and Montreal test were significantly older; the ones with lower education, with more depressive symptoms, had more functional impairment and had lower HR-QOL scores than the elderly with normal cognitive function, after controlling for confounders still cognition was a determinant of HR-QOL. Also by linear correlation coefficient a significant correlation between HR-QOL and age, function, cognition and depression was found. Conclusion: Cognition affects significantly HR-QOL of the elderly, so we can say that interventions targeting cognition in the elderly can significantly improve their QOL.