
Thaísa Lopes Rodrigues
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.