The effect of Telmisartan versus Cilnidipine on memory and psychomotor functions in patients with essential hypertension - An open label, randomized, parallel comparative study

Introduction: Hypertension is a global public health issue. Data on the effect of Anti- hypertensive drugs on dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive impairment is limited and inconclusive. Material and Methods: It was a Prospective, randomized, open label, comparative study. Total 60 hypertensive Patients were randomized to receive either Telmisartan or Cilnidipine. Memory functions were evaluated with PGI Memory Scale, while psychomotor functions were evaluated with Six Letter Cancellation test (SLCT) and Digit Letter Substitution test (DLST) and card sorting test (CST). Student t-test was used to compare the means of test scores between and within the groups. Statistical significance was considered at P<0.05. Results: An improvement was observed in scores of memory in both the groups which was not significant. A significant improvement (p < 0.05) was shown in 3 of 10 subtests of memory in Telmisartan group compared to Cilnidipine. Both the drugs showed significant improvement in psychomotor function tests (P<0.05). SLCT score was 40.33 ± 1.58 (CI 38.8 - 42) in Cilnidipine group and 38.80 ± 1.56 (CI 37.2 - 40.4) in Telmisartan group. Cilnidipine showed significant improvement in SLCT and DLST scores compared to Telmisartan. Both the study drugs decreased BP significantly (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Both Telmisartan and Cilnidipine showed no change in memory and significant improvement in psychomotor functions in newly diagnosed Stage - I essential hypertension patients. But Telmisartan showed more improving trends in memory than Cilnidipine. Cilnidipine significantly improved psychomotor functions compared to Telmisartan. Further randomized controlled studies are needed to establish these effects.