Engjellushe Hasani
Polyclinic no.3 Tirana, Albania
Title: Cardiovascular comorbidities in dementia patients
Biography
Biography: Engjellushe Hasani
Abstract
Cardiovascular diseases represent a significant burden for patients with dementia. There is conflicting evidence as to which dementia disorder is accompanied by a larger number of comorbidities. We have included in this study 689 persons who were diagnosed with dementia in Neurology and Psychiatry Service, in UHC Mother Teresa, Tirana Albania and are residents in Tirana, Albania. 381 of them was diagnosed with Alzheimer`s disease, 177 with vascular dementia, 24 frontotemporal dementia, 57 Parkinson`s disease dementia and 50 other dementia types. Cardiovascular comorbidities of patients were defined from medical records from hospitalizations; the prescription of cardiovascular drugs was derived from the register of GP and outpatient service of cardiology in Polyclinic no. 3 in Tirana. Patients were diagnosed with Alzheimer´s disease (55.2%), vascular dementia (25.6%), frontotemporal dementia (3.4%), Parkinson´s disease dementia (8.2%), and other dementia types (7.2%). Multinomial logistic regression was applied to find differences in the occurrence of cardiovascular comorbidities and drug prescription among different dementia disorders. All cardiovascular comorbidities were found to be more common in vascular and mixed dementia when compared to Alzheimer´s disease (67% vs. 23%). Diabetes mellitus (DM) (42%) and myocardial infarction (MI) (31%) were significantly less likely to occur in patients suffering from vascular dementia when compared to Alzheimer´s disease patients (DM 16% and MI 6%). Diabetes mellitus was also less likely to be diagnosed in patients with Parkinson´s disease dementia than in Alzheimer´s disease. There were no significant differences in the frequency of cardiovascular comorbidities between frontotemporal dementia patients and Alzheimer´s disease patients.