Association of vitamin D and vitamin B12 with cognitive impairment in elderly aged 80 years or older. - GreenMedInfo Summary

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to assess the association of vitamin D and vitamin Bwith cognitive impairment in elderly people.

METHODS: The data were obtained from a cross-sectional study that included individuals aged 80 years or older living in the urban and rural areas of the cities of Siderópolis and Treviso in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. In total, 165 elderly people were included in the analysis. The outcome of cognitive decline was assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination. Vitamin D and vitaminBlevels were measured from blood samples. The socio-demographic, anthropometric and health variables used in the analysis were collected from a questionnaire. Crude and adjusted analyses of the relationship between vitamins D and Band cognitive decline were performed using a Poisson regression model.

RESULTS: The prevalence of cognitive decline was 35.2%. In the adjusted model, individuals who had vitamin D levels>19 ng mLshowed a lower prevalence of cognitive decline (prevalence ratio = 0.59; 95% confidence interval = 0.39-0.87). Those participants who had vitamin Blevels of≥496 pg mLhad a higher prevalence of cognitive decline (prevalence ratio = 1.90; 95% confidence interval = 1.08-3.36).

CONCLUSIONS: The present study showed that individuals aged≥80 years who had vitamin D levels of ≤18 ng mLhad a higher prevalence of cognitive decline even after adjustment for potential confounders. In addition, the study demonstrated that vitamin Blevels of≥496 pg mLin this population were also a risk factor for cognitive decline. A cross-sectional analysis does not enable the inference of a cause-effect relationship and additional studies are needed to understand these relationships.