Subjective cognitive decline in diabetes: Associations with psychological, sleep, and diabetes-related factors.
Min Jung Kim, Chang Park, Bingqian Zhu and 1 others
PMID 33210386WHAT IT FOUND
In adults with diabetes, reported cognitive symptoms were linked to sleep problems and higher body mass index when symptoms were milder, and to fatigue and depressive symptoms when symptoms were more severe.
This did not show cause.
Key findings
01Sleep disturbance and body mass index were associated with subjective cognitive decline at lower symptom severity levels.
02Fatigue and depressive symptoms were associated with subjective cognitive decline at higher symptom severity levels.
03Diabetes distress was not associated with subjective cognitive decline at any symptom severity level.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study used baseline data from separate parent studies, and the combined samples differed on age, fatigue, sleep-related impairment and diabetes distress. The cognitive symptom measure did not include memory problems. It asked only about sleepiness, difficulty concentrating, thinking clearly and paying attention. Potential confounders such as sleep apnea and sleep medication use were not accounted for. The sample was a convenience sample from one urban area, so results may not apply to other regions or populations. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that any factor caused or worsened cognitive symptoms. The conventional average-based model did not show significant associations, so the severity-specific associations should not be treated as simple overall effects.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these findings as evidence that treating sleep problems, body mass index, fatigue or depressive symptoms will improve cognitive symptoms. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show cause.