Prevalence and risk factors of cognitive dysfunction in chronic hemodialysis patients

Objectives: There is growing evidence for cognitive dysfunction in chronic hemodialysis patients as the age and the prevalence of comorbidities increase in this population. The aim of the present study was to assess cognitive performance in hemodialysis patients and determine the variables associated with poor cognitive function.Methods: Cross-sectional cohort of 108 maintenance hemodialysis patients in the Marrakech area. Cognitive performance was assessed through the mini mental state examination (MMSE). Cognitive impairment was defined as a score of less than 24. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the variables associated with MMSE score.Results: We found that 25% of the subjects were cognitively impaired. After adjusting for demographic and medical variables, low MMSE scores were independently associated with educational level (odd ratio: 0.564; p = 0.031) and anemia (odd ratio: 0.743; p = 0.046).Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of cognitive dysfunction among hemodialysis patients and many causative factors have been evoked. Effective identification of this trouble allows adequate psychological interventions to improve the quality of life of these patients.