What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Cross-Sectional. Population: Hypertension (n=54). Intervention: Beta blockers. Primary outcome: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score.

December 3, 2019Open Access

Risk of dementia in patients taking beta blocker as antihypertensive treatment: a cross sectional study

Key Result

Among 54 hypertensive patients aged 55-65 taking beta blockers for at least 5 years, the average MMSE score was 28.3, with 18.5% of patients scoring below 28.

Study Design

Type

Cross-Sectional (n=54)

Multicenter

Structured PICO

Population

54 hypertensive patients aged 55-65 years who had been taking beta blockers for at least 5 years were assessed for cognitive status using the MMSE.

Exposure

Beta blockers (atenolol, bisoprolol, or carvedilol) taken for at least 5 years.

Outcome

Cognitive status measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score (out of 30 marks).surrogate

In a small cross-sectional study of hypertensive patients aged 55-65 taking beta blockers for over 5 years, 18.5% exhibited below-average cognitive scores, suggesting a potential need for cognitive monitoring in this population.

Limitations

Only patients taking beta blockers were included; patients taking other anti-hypertensive medications were not included
Restricted to the 55-65 age group
Small sample size
No control group was involved in the study

Abstract

Background: Hypertension is considered to be the third most important disease in the list of diseases in the south Asian region. Several trials have shown active treatment of hypertension reduced the incidence of dementia. This study was adopted to understand the cognitive status of patients using beta blockers for hypertension for a period of more than 5 years.Methods: The study was done during the period of August 2018 and September 2018. Patients taking beta blockers for atleast 5 years were included and was made to take the MMSE test which is scored out of 30 marks containing 11 questions, each of varying marks.Results: In the study, 54 patients were included, 8 out of 54 patients taking beta blockers obtained a score of 30 which is 15% of the study population taking beta blockers, 15 out of 54 patients taking beta blockers obtained a score of 29 which corresponds to 28% of the study population, 21 out of 54 individuals taking beta blockers obtained a score of 28 which is 39% of the population taking it, 7 patients taking beta blockers obtained a score of 27 pertaining to 13% of the population. One patient obtained a score of 26 and two patients scored 25 out of 30. The average score obtained was 28.2963.Conclusions: About 18.5% of the study population had scores below the average value of 28 in this study. This population is at higher risk of developing dementia in the future and need follow up.

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