Association Analysis between Cognitive Function Score and Inner Macular Thickness/Visual Field Sensitivity in Glaucoma Patients

TL;DR

This study found that glaucoma patients with lower cognitive scores had worse eye test results and thinner eye structures.

Contribution

The study links cognitive impairment measured by the Mini-Cog test to glaucoma progression in a large patient sample.

Findings

Low Mini-Cog scores were associated with thinner inner macular thickness and worse visual field sensitivity.

Patients with poor cognitive scores had higher false negatives and false positives in visual field tests.

No significant association was found with pattern standard deviation or fixation losses.

Abstract

(1) Background: Previous research has investigated the relationship between cognitive impairment, optical coherence tomography (OCT), visual fields (VF), and VF reliability in smaller patient samples using various cognitive assessment tools. This study analyzed the relationship between cognitive function scores using the Mini-Cog test and inner macular thickness (IMT) and VF sensitivity in glaucoma patients. (2) Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 984 patients with 1897 eyes. Assessments included age, sex, intraocular pressure (IOP), and Mini-Cog test scores. Abnormal Mini-Cog scores were observed in 89 patients (9%). Using a mixed-effects model adjusted for background factors, the association between Mini-Cog scores and IMT, parafoveal (PF)-IMT, mean deviation (MD), pattern standard deviation, fixation losses (FL), false negatives (FN), and false positives (FP) was analyzed. (3) Results: Abnormal Mini-Cog scores (≤2) were associated with thinning of the IMT and PF-IMT, worse MDs, and higher FN and FP rates but not with PSD or FL. (4) Conclusions: Glaucoma patients with low cognitive function scores exhibited more advanced glaucoma-related changes in VF testing and morphological tests. Further longitudinal studies are needed to explore the relationship between glaucoma and cognitive impairment.