A Biethnic Community Survey of Cognition in Participants With Type 2 Diabetes, Impaired Glucose Tolerance, and Normal Glucose Tolerance

A Biethnic Community Survey of Cognition in Participants With Type 2 Diabetes, Impaired Glucose Tolerance, and Normal Glucose Tolerance The New Mexico Elder Health Survey Robert D. Lindeman , MD 1 2 , Linda J. Romero , MD 2 3 , Asenath LaRue , PHD 2 4 , C. Lillian Yau , MS 2 , David S. Schade , MD 1 , Kathleen M. Koehler , PHD 2 , Richard N. Baumgartner , PHD 1 2 and Phillip J. Garry , PHD 2 5 1 Department of Internal Medicine, the 2 Clinical Nutrition Program, and the Departments of 3 Family and Community Medicine 4 Psychiatry, and 5 Pathology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico Abstract OBJECTIVE —To determine whether elderly individuals with type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance are at increased risk for cognitive impairment compared with individuals with normal glucose tolerance. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —Elderly Hispanic individuals ( n = 414) and non-Hispanic white individuals ( n = 469) aged ≥65 years, randomly selected from the Medicare rolls of Bernalillo County (Albuquerque), NM, were recruited for an interview/examination that included an evaluation of glucose tolerance. Information on nine tests of cognitive function and two measures of depression allowed comparisons between diabetic status and these functions. Comparisons also were made between glycosolated hemoglobin concentrations and these cognitive tests in the 188 participants with diabetes. RESULTS —None of the mean scores on the tests of cognitive function was significantly lower in the participants with diabetes compared with those participants with normal glucose tolerance after adjustments for ethnicity, sex, age, level of education, and presence of depression, with or without elimination of those with dementia (Mini-Mental State Exam