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Background: Cognitive deficits (CDs) are frequent and worsen the quality of life of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) patients. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a feasible test used to screen the presence of cognitive deficits. Objectives: The aim of the study is to evaluate whether the MoCA is a valid test for identifying SLE patients who require a targeted neuropsychological evaluation for CDs and to discriminate which factors influence MoCA's alterations (including subjective cognitive symptomatology). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between April 2019 and November 2022 in which adult patients with SLE (ACR/EULAR 2019 criteria) and HC with similar demographic characteristics were recruited. Demographic, clinical, clinimetric, serological and therapeutic data were collected (Table 1). CDs were screened with the MoCA test performed by certified personnel (altered if15) and fatigue with FACIT-F (altered ifResults: Ninety-nine patients and 36 HCs were enrolled (Table 1). MoCA test was altered in 44 SLE and 7 HCs (44.4% VS 19.4%, p=0.008). MoCA values in SLE correlated significantly with the alterations found in the battery test in the domains of memory, executive functions, complex attention and problem solving (Rey Immediate Words p=0.014; Recognition p=0.043, Stroop Test p=0.010, FAB p =0.005, Digit Symbol p=0.018). High MoCA scores correlated with the absence of CDs (mean 26.86±1.86, p=0.012). At least one subjective cognitive symptom was reported by 31/57 SLE and 13/36 HC but no correlation was found with the MoCA alterations, while a correlation emerged with the CES-D values (p=0.002) and fibromyalgia (p=0.003). At multivariate analysis after correction for age, gender, level of education, disease duration, fibromyalgia, dyslipidemia, SLEDAI-2K, anti-RibP titre, the factors that influenced MoCA were male gender (β=-0.206, p=0.014), education Conclusion: MoCA test is useful for screening but not for diagnosis of CDs in SLE patients. Low level of education, male gender, dyslipidemia and anti-Rib-P titer were factors independently associated with MoCA alterations. No correlation between subjective cognitive symptoms with MoCA alterations was found, while a correlation emerged with CES-D values and fibromyalgia. REFERENCES: NIL. Acknowledgements: NIL. Disclosure of Interests: Elisabetta Chessa: None declared, cristina serafini: None declared, Alberto Floris: None declared, Maria Maddalena Angioni: None declared, MATTIA CONGIA: None declared, Alessandro Mathieu: None declared, Alberto Cauli: None declared, Mauro Giovanni Carta: None declared, Matteo Piga AstraZeneca, GSK, Otsuka, Roche, AstraZeneca, GSK.
Chessa et al. (2024) studied this question.