Relationship between blood pressure level and cognitive impairment in hypertension patients

Objective To explore the association of systolic blood pressure(SBP),pulses pressure (PP),diastolic blood pressure (DBP) with cognitive impairment among hypertension patients and to provide evidence for the prevention of cognitive impairment.Methods A total of 196 hypertensives (66 in stage I,64 in stage II,and 66 in stage III) were randomly chosen from Tangshan Worker's Hospital.Cognitive function was measured with Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test Second Edition (RBMT-Ⅱ,2003).Results The incidences of memory disorder among the hypertension patients at different disease stages were different (χ²=10.389,P=0.006).The proportins of mild,moderate,and severe memory disoder were 53.1%,30.3%,and 6.1% for the patients with stage I hypertension,32.8%,53.1%,and 9.4% for the patients at stage II,and 24.2%,56.1%,and 13.6% for the patients at stage III,respectively.There were significant differences in the scores for items of recall name,remember storing articles,recall of faces,delayed route,orientation score and RBMT-Ⅱ total score among the hypertension patients at different disease stages (P<0.05).The RBMT-Ⅱ total score was inversely related to SBP and PP(P=0.000),but not related to DBP (P >0.05).Multiple linear stepwise regression indicated that RBMT-Ⅱ total score was inversely related to the increase of age and PP but correlated positively with education level among the patients.Conclusion Blood pressure,especially PP,may affect long-term memory in patients with hypertension.