Predictor of cognitive impairment: metabolic syndrome or circadian syndrome

Yang Liu; Boying Zang; Jinang Shao; Ning Ning; Lixia He; Yanan Ma

doi:10.1186/s12877-023-03996-x

Predictor of cognitive impairment: metabolic syndrome or circadian syndrome

BMC Geriatr. 2023 Jul 4;23(1):408. doi: 10.1186/s12877-023-03996-x.

Authors

Yang Liu^#¹, Boying Zang^#², Jinang Shao¹, Ning Ning¹, Lixia He³, Yanan Ma⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, China Medical University, No.77 Puhe Road, Shenyang North New Area, Shenyang, 110122, Liaoning Province, China.
² Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Heath, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, Hebei, China.
³ Division of Molecular and Cellular Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 02215, USA. lixia_he@dfci.harvard.edu.
⁴ Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, China Medical University, No.77 Puhe Road, Shenyang North New Area, Shenyang, 110122, Liaoning Province, China. ynma@cmu.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: It was reported that metabolic syndrome increases the risk for cognitive impairment and circadian rhythm may influence cognition behavior. Identifying the potential risk factors is essential to screen individuals with neuronal dysfunction, neuronal loss, and cognitive decline and prevent cognitive impairment and dementia development.

Methods: We clarified participants by the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and circadian syndrome (CircS) and employed three multivariable Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) models to control the potential confounding factors and estimate the β values for cognitive function using as referents those had neither MetS nor CircS at baseline. The cognitive function consists of episodic memory and executive function was estimated via the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) every two years until 2015.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 58.80 (8.93) years and 49.92% (male). The prevalence of MetS and CircS was 42.98% and 36.43%, respectively. 1,075 (11.00%) and 435 (4.45%) participants had either MetS or CircS alone and 3,124 (31.98%) had both CircS and MetS. Participants with both MetS and CircS compared with normal had a significantly decreased cognitive function score during the 4-years cohort (β = -0.32, 95% CI: -0.63, -0.01) with the complete model, as well as among participants who suffered from CircS alone (β = -0.82, 95% CI: -1.47, -0.16), while not among participants with MetS alone (β = 0.13, 95% CI: -0.27, 0.53). Specifically, compared with the normal population a significantly lower score was discovered in the episodic memory (β = -0.51, 95% CI: -0.95, -0.07), while slightly lower in executive function (β = -0.33, 95% CI: -0.68, -0.01) among individuals with CircS alone.

Conclusions: Individuals with CircS alone or both MetS and CircS have a high risk of cognitive impairment. The association was even stronger in participants with CircS alone than those with both MetS and CircS, suggesting CircS probably have a stronger association with cognitive functioning than MetS and could be a better predictor for cognitive impairment.

Keywords: Chinese; Circadian syndrome; Cognitive impairment; Metabolic syndrome.

MeSH terms

Cognition / physiology
Cognitive Dysfunction* / diagnosis
Cognitive Dysfunction* / epidemiology
Cognitive Dysfunction* / etiology
Executive Function
Humans
Male
Metabolic Syndrome* / diagnosis
Metabolic Syndrome* / epidemiology
Risk Factors