COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN THE ELDERLY VISITING MEDICAL CLINIC, UDONTHANI HOSPITAL

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study was toexplore cognitive impairment in the elderly visitingmedical clinic. Two-hundred and eighty elders aged60 years and over were sampling from medical clinic,out-patient department, Udonthani hospital.Demographic and health questionair, Barthel ActivityDaily Living Index, Thai Hospital Anxiety andDepression Scale (Thai HADS), and Thai Mental StateExamination (TMSE) were used in data collection.Data were analysed by descriptive statistic, chi-squareand correlation coefficient.The results  of this study revealed thatthe prevalence of cognitive impairment of elderlyvisiting medical clinic was 43.2%. Cognitiveimpairment was found in female more than male(28.6% vs 14.6%). Factors associated with cognitiveimpairment were education level (p-value <0.001).Income and functional ability in activity in daily livinghad positive correlation (r = 0.131, p-value = 0.028,r = 0.199, p-value = 0.001  respectively), whereasage and depression had negative correlationwith cognitive function(r = -0.165, p-value = 0.006,r = -0.159, p-value  = 0.008 respectively). Therewas no significant correlation between sex, numberof disease, social activity, and cognitive functionfound in this study.Conclusion:  Prevalence of  cognitive impairmentin the elderly visiting medical clinic was high andassociated with age, education level, income, functionalability, and depression.