Affiliations: [a] Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China | [b] Department of Neurology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, Fuzhou, China | [c] Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Yannan Fang, Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, NO. 2 Zhongshan Road, Guangzhou, 510080, China. E-mail: fyn2012@126.com.
Abstract: Cognitive dysfunction has been shown to be associated with many risk factors, such as smoking, diabetes, and body mass index. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a common disease within the elderly population, has also been found to be related to cognitive decline. However, whether COPD is a risk factor of cognitive dysfunction is not well established. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to investigate the role COPD plays in cognitive dysfunction. PubMed, Cochrane library and Web of Science databases were searched. Three cohort studies and eleven cross-sectional studies were found to be eligible. According to our results, COPD patients had a higher risk of cognitive dysfunction than controls (OR [odds ratio]: 1.72; 95% CI, 1.12–2.65; p = 0.01). The exacerbation of COPD was strongly correlated with cognitive decline. COPD patients performed worse than controls on the Mini– Mental State Examination test, but the results were not statistically significant (OR: –0.79; 95% CI, [–1.78, 0.19]; p = 0.11). Thus, more attention should be given to the occurrence of cognitive decline in COPD patients. The prevention and control of COPD exacerbation are critical.
