Contemporary Incidence of Cognitive Impairment or Dementia in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

INTRODUCTION: Despite the high prevalence of cognitive impairment or dementia post-coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), the incidence of cognitive impairment or dementia post-CABG in contemporary practice is currently unclear. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the incidence and associated risk factors of cognitive impairment or dementia in patients' post-CABG. METHODS: A systematic search across three databases (PubMed, SCOPUS, and Embase) was conducted for studies published in or after 2013 that reported cognitive impairment or dementia post-CABG. Subgroup analyses and meta-regression by risk factors were performed to determine their influence on the results. RESULTS: This analysis included 23 studies with a total of 2,620 patients. The incidence of cognitive impairment or dementia less than 1 month, 2 to 6 months, and more than 12 months post-CABG was 35.96% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 28.22-44.51, I2 = 87%), 21.33% (95% CI: 13.44-32.15, I2 = 88%), and 39.13% (95% CI: 21.72-58.84, I2 = 84%), respectively. Meta-regression revealed that studies with more than 80% of the cohort diagnosed with hypertension were significantly associated with incidence of cognitive impairment or dementia less than 1 month post-CABG. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis demonstrates a high incidence of cognitive impairment or dementia in patients' post-CABG in contemporary practice, particularly less than 1 month post-CABG and more than 12 months post-CABG. We found that hypertension was a significant risk factor in the short-term (less than 1 month) follow-up period for cognitive impairment or dementia post-CABG. Future research should be done to assess strategies to reduce cognitive impairment post-CABG.