Prediabetes May Negatively Impact Cognitive Function in Patients With Parkinson Disease

Prediabetes and diabetes may compromise cognitive function in patients with Parkinson disease (PD), according to study results published in Brain and Behavior.

“The main finding of this study is that, besides diabetes, prediabetes was associated with poorer cognitive function in PD patients, even after adjusting for multiple confounding factors,” researchers wrote.

The retrospective study focused on 262 patients with PD who visited the neurology department at Inha University Hospital, Incheon, Korea, between January 2020 and December 2021. Researchers classified patients by their diabetes status into one of three groups: diabetes, prediabetes, or diabetes-free.

Compared with an average 20.0 ± 5.7 score on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test in the diabetes-free group, scores were significantly lower in the diabetes and prediabetes groups: 17.0 ± 6.6 in the diabetes group and 18.0 ± 6.1 in the prediabetes group, according to the study. MoCA scores remained lower for the diabetes and prediabetes groups after adjustments for covariates, but researchers noted considerable score overlap among the three groups.

Higher HbA1c levels correlated with poorer cognitive performance among patients from the prediabetes and diabetes-free groups, the study found.

“However, the difference in MoCA scores according to diabetes status was modest, indicating that the difference was statistically significant but may not be clinically meaningful,” researchers wrote. “Notably, the impact of diabetes status on cognition was influenced by age, but not PD duration.”

The authors advised the need for prospective longitudinal studies to clarify the effect of prediabetes on cognition in patients with PD.

Reference:
Park J, Choi S, Kim R. Association between prediabetes and cognitive function in Parkinson’s disease. Brain Behav. Published online November 30, 2022. doi:10.1002/brb3.2838