Department of Medicine, University of Benin, Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria; Department of Medicine, University of Benin, PMB 1154, Benin City, Nigeria
Ogunrin, A.O., Department of Medicine, University of Benin, Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria, Department of Medicine, University of Benin, PMB 1154, Benin City, Nigeria; Unuigbe, E.I., Department of Medicine, University of Benin, Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria; Azubuike, C., Department of Medicine, University of Benin, Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria
Background: With the increasing prevalence of chronic renal failure among the indigenous African population, coupled with the emphasis on improvement in the quality of life, there is a need for reports on the cognitive functioning and the effect of the disease on the cognitive performance of affected individuals. Material/Methods: Sixty consecutive non-dialyzed Nigerian patients with clinical and biochemical evidence of chronic renal failure and sixty healthy age-, sex- and education level-matched controls (volunteers) were studied using an automated neuro-psychological test battery (FePsy) to assess their memory and perceptuo-motor skills. Results: The chronic renal failure patients performed worse in both verbal and visual memory than controls (p<0.0001). The patients compared favorably with the controls on concentration ability (p>0.05), but their perceptuo-motor speed was retarded (p<0.001). The levels of creatinine (p<0.01) and urea (p<0.01) and the presence of hypertension (p<0.05), asterixis (p<0.05), exertional dyspnea (p<0.05), and vomiting (p<0.05) affected their memory performance, with creatinine level being the most potent variable (p=0.0015). Conclusions: The results of this study confirm the presence of cognitive impairments in Nigerians with chronic renal impairment and buttress the importance of its aggressive and prompt management. © Med Sci Monit.
creatinine; urea; adult; aged; article; chronic kidney failure; controlled study; creatinine blood level; dyspnea; female; flapping tremor; human; hypertension; major clinical study; male; memory; mental concentration; motor performance; neuropsychological test; Nigeria; perception; urea blood level; verbal memory; visual memory; vomiting; Adult; Aged; Case-Control Studies; Female; Humans; Kidney Failure, Chronic; Male; Memory Disorders; Middle Aged; Nigeria; Psychomotor Performance