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Título

THERE IS AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN COGNITIVE DEFICIT AND RELIGIOSITY IN PATIENTS WITH PARKINSON'S DISEASE?

Resumo

INTRODUCTION: Cognitive decline makes up the natural history of Parkinson's Disease (PD), especially in advanced stages. In this context, religiosity may be related to the status of cognition and executive functions, such as cognitive flexibility, which are usually also impacted in PD. Thus, it is essential to investigate the degree of cognitive impairment and its possible associations with religiosity. Therefore, the literature confirms the applicability of the MOCA for cognitive assessment even in populations with lower levels of education.
OBJECTIVES: Analyze the degree of cognitive impairment and verify its possible association with religiosity, quality of life and depressive symptoms in patients diagnosed with PD.
METHODOLOGY: The MOCA and the Duke University Religiosity Index (DUREL) were applied to patients diagnosed with PD according to the 2015 MDS criteria. Patients with a hypothesis of atypical parkinsonism were excluded. DUREL was evaluated according to its 3 components: organizational religiosity (OR), non-organizational religiosity (RNO) and intrinsic religiosity (IR). Diagnostic of dementia or mild cognitive impairment based on the total test score, according to cutoff points in the literature. In addition, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the PDQ 39 were applied to assess depression and the degree of quality of life in these patients, respectively. The Spearman test was used to assess the correlation between the variables. This study obtained approval from the local ethics committee approval.
RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients, aged between 48 and 76 years, were included. Among these, 10 were diagnosed with dementia (MOCA < 17.5) and 9 with mild cognitive impairment (MOCA < 22.5). Among patients with dementia, 50% did not have any level of education. The Spearman test was calculated and the correlation coefficient of the MOCA with the other evaluated scales was: DUREL - RO and RNO (0.347; p=0.71), RI (0.06; p=0.764), BDI (0.063; p=0.748), PDQ - 39 (-0.063; p=0.749) and UPDRS III (-0.241, p=0.217).
CONCLUSION: Approximately 32% of the sample was classified as having a mild cognitive impairment and 36% as having dementia. No significant association was found between cognition, religiosity, quality of life or depression. There was also no significant association between cognition and motor impairment in these patients.