Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38800794›Full record

ArticleJournal of family & community medicine

Association between multimorbidity and cognitive decline in the elderly population of the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.

Khalid S AlHarkan, Adam F Aldhawyan, Ahmed S Bahamdan, Yousef D Alqurashi, Fajar A Aldulijan, Sarah I Alsamin, Jood K Alotaibi, Arwa K Alumran

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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of family & community medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Exploring the relationship between pain, cognition, and chronic conditions: insights from the HAALSI study in rural South Africa.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025
    Article
  4. Observational
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Khalid S AlHarkanDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Adam F AldhawyanDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Ahmed S BahamdanDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Yousef D AlqurashiDepartment of Respiratory Care, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Fajar A AldulijanDepartment of Family Medicine, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
Sarah I AlsaminCollege of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Jood K AlotaibiCollege of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Arwa K AlumranDepartment of Health Information Management, College of Public Health, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal, University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCognitive decline affects the quality of life, and dementia affects independence in daily life activities. Multimorbidity in older adults is associated with a higher risk of cognitive impairment. This research aims to study the relationship between cognitive decline and multimorbidity in the elderly population in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND

methodsThis cross-sectional research was conducted from July to October 2022 among adults over 60 years. All patients with two or more comorbidities were contacted for a face-to-face interview and cognitive testing to estimate cognitive function by trained family physicians using St. Louis University Mental State Examination. ANOVA and Chi-square test were used to test for statistical significance. Binary logistic regression was used to show the odds of having cognitive impairment and multimorbidity. All tests were performed at 5% level of significance.

resultsThe study involved 343 individuals; majority (74.1%) aged 60-75 years and were males (67.9%). Hypertension, diabetes, and chronic pain were reported by 56%, 48%, and 44% participants, respectively. Thirty percent participants had 3 or more comorbidities. About 36% had mild neurocognitive disorder and 31.2% had dementia. The results showed that age, gender (female), diabetes, stroke, chronic pain, and multimorbidity were significantly associated with cognitive impairment. In our study, hypertension, coronary artery diseases, depression, and anxiety were not significantly associated with risk of cognitive decline.

conclusionOur study found that multimorbidity is significantly associated with cognitive decline. Controlling comorbidities and preventing risk factors in midlife could help in delaying the progression of the disease.

Indexed as

Chronic diseasesdementiamild cognitive impairmentmultimorbidity

Identifiers

PMID38800794
PMCPMC11114873

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.