Desempenho neurocognitivo em adultos e idosos com alto e baixo índice de carga vascular

Abstract

Aging is part of human development, being marked by changes, including structural and functional changes in cognition. Nine out of ten individuals aged 60 years or more usually have at least one cardiovascular risk factor, such as: high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia and sedentary lifestyle. Vascular risk factors (VRF) have been involved as factors that favor the emergence of pathologies, such as cognitive impairment and dementias. The Composite Vascular Risk Scores (CRS) are scores established according to the quantitative presence of FRV and were designed to predict possible risks of clinically significant episodes, and may represent useful indicators of future cognitive status. Based on the above, the objective was to analyze the neurocognitive performance of cognitively stable adults and elderly people with a high and low vascular load index through a self-declared collection questionnaire for the composition of the vascular load and a battery of neuropsychological tests. The total sample of the present study (n=40) was stratified into low vascular load index (n=22) and high vascular load index (n=18). The results suggest significant differences between groups in the neuropsychological measures evaluated. Effect sizes ranged from moderate to high, indicating that participants' cognitive performance was moderately or highly influenced by the group to which they were assigned. Thus, it is possible that the composition of the vascular load exerts a negative influence on the cognitive performance of the participants, as the subjects who had low vascular load presented superior performance when compared to the participants with a high vascular load index.