Thaísa Lopes Rodrigues
Bac Lieu, Lieue University, BrazilTitle : Alzheimer´s disease and Diabetes Mellitus type 3
Abstract
Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a
disease with a high and growing prevalence in most countries. Recently,
literature found a link between DM and the risk of developing Alzheimer's
Disease (AD), one of the main mental disorders. Objective: verify the
prevalence of DM among individuals with AD. A descriptive, observational,
cross-sectional study was carried out, in which 100 elderly people aged 60
years or over, of both genders and diagnosed with AD were studied. The
participants, aged 18 years old or over, were the direct family members or
those responsible for the care of those elderly people. Sociodemographic and
clinical information was collected through an online questionnaire on the Google
Forms® platform and tabulated in the Microsoft® Office Excel program.
Assessment scales of BADLs (Basic Activities of Daily Living) and IADLs
(Assessment of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living) as well as the adapted
QDRS (Quick Dementia Rating System) were applied and then correlated with the
duration of DM using the Pearson's Correlation Test. Most of the AD patients
were female (65.7%), with a low level of education (43%), overweight or obese
(48%) and had as main comorbidities DM (51.5%) and Arterial Hypertension
(57.5%). Significant differences were found in the Degree of Dependency scores
according to the BADL (p=0,034) and IADL (p=0,028) assessment scales, and in
the QDRS as well (p=0.036). According to Pearson's Linear Correlation
Coefficient, duration of diabetes had very low intensity correlations with
duration of Alzheimer's (r=-0.1), with the degree of dependency according to
BADL assessment scale (r=-0,16), and according to IADL assessment scale
(r=-0.14), and the degree of dementia according to QDRS (r=-0.15). The study
apparently found a correlation between DM and a worsening of DA's symptoms, but
further studies on the subject are suggested, since the sample size does not
allow extrapolating the results to the population
Biography
Thaísa Rodrigues has completed
her graduation at the age of 21 years from Presbyterian Mackenzie University,
Brazil. She is still working on her studies, investing in courses and
postgraduate studies. She has already 2 publications that were presented in
SBAN congress in São Paulo, 2019.