Abstract
Objective:Patients with bronchiectasis may be associated with low cognitive ability. The goal of this study was to determine the frequency and determinants of low cognitive ability in patients with with stable bronchiectasis.
Methods: Thirty patients with stable bronchiectasis and 25 healthy control subjects underwent a cognitive ability assessment using Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Age, BMI, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale and pulmonary function were assessed.
Results:Mean scores on the verbal, performance, and full scale IQ scores were significantly lower in the patients with bronchiectasis than in the healthy volunteers
Table 1.Characteristics of the control group and patients with bronchiectasis
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Low cognitive ability in the patients with bronchiectasis was associated with higher depression scores, lower oxygen saturation and poor lung function after adjusting for potential confounders in multivariate analysis.
Borg score after exercise in bronchiectasis patients with low cognitive ability was higher than that of bronchiectasis patients with high cognitive ability, despite the PaO2 and FEV1 in both groups was similar.
Conclusion: Low cognitive ability in patients with bronchiectasis may be associated with reduced lung functions, more serious hypoxemia and higher depressive symptoms. Bronchiectasis patients with low cognitive ability feel more intense dyspnea than high cognitive ability ones.
- © 2014 ERS
