Dementia Severity Assessed by Mini Mental State Examination and Its Metabolic Correlates

Objectives. The aim of our study was to identify the metabolic correlates of dementia severity assessed by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in patients with dementia and eating disorders. Methods. Cross-sectional observational study was performed from 2020 to 2023 in palliative clinic “Palmedi” of Tbilisi State Medical University. The study group consisted of 77 patients with dementia (18 males, 59 females; mean age - 78.0 ± 11.1). Dementia was assessed by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and eating disorders assessed by Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) scale. Serum resistin levels, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and insulin (FPI), C-peptide, parameters of lipid metabolism – total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), HDL-, LDL- and VLDL-cholesterol were measured and analyzed. Insulin resistance was assessed by HOMA model. BMI and waist circumference have been also measured. Correlation was assessed by Pearson coefficient (r). Results. MMSE-score was significantly positively correlated with MNA-score (r=0.605, p<0.001), HDL-cholesterol levels (r=0.237, p=0.038), and BMI (r=0.258, p=0.023). The significant negative correlation was obtained between MMSE-score and age (r= -0.264, p=0.020), TG (r= -0.311, p=0.006), and resistin levels (r= -0.309, p=0.006). Correlation of MMSE-score with other studied parameters was not significant. Conclusion. Dementia severity assessed by MMSE-score was significantly correlated with age, BMI, eating disorders assessed by MNA-score, TG and HDL-cholesterol, and resistin levels. So, it may be concluded that dementia is associated with impaired metabolism.