Abrar Ahmed Wagan, Sultan Ahmed Chandio, Sadia Nasir, Abdul Rhim, Daim Khancentral Park Medical College/hospital Lahore.
Cognitive assessment in Pakistani rheumatoid arthritis cohort: CAP-RA: cross sectional study.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;13(4):788-91.

Aim : To determine the frequency of cognitive dysfunction in pts of rheumatoid a rthritis at tertiary care hospital. Methods: This study was conducted from 30-09-2017 to 30-09-2018, total 127 patients of Rheumatoid Arthritis were enrolled from outpatient department of rheumatology division of department of medicine central park medical college Lahore, after demographic parameters , Montreal objective cognitive assessment questionnaire (Mo CA), Urdu version was filled, participants were asked in detail about the smoking, diabetes mellitus, blood pressure and bod y mass index were measured , current and past use of DMARD’s were noted. Results: In this study , females were 101 (77%), with mean age of 47.7 (±6.49 ) years, and disease duration of 11 years. Cognitive dysfunction was present in 42(33.1%) with mean MoCA score of (22.3±2.08 ) in cognitive dysfunction group and (28.6±1.34 ) in cognitively normal RA group (p-value <0.01). There was significant association of hypertension, smoking and use of DMARD’s with cognitive dysfunction (p -value <0.5) . Conclusion: There is significant prevalence of cognitive dysfunction in rheumatoid arthritis and it remains a neglected aspect of management plan and aggravates the already existing psychosocial problems of RA patients. Montreal objective cognitive assessment questionnaire (MoCA) Urdu version is easy to understand, could be a useful tool for cognitive assessment in RA patients and modifiable cardiovascular risk factors contributes to cognitive dysfunction.

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