2020 Volume 79 Issue 2 Pages 88-94
A cognitive function test was performed on 220 elderly people who presented with the chief complaint of dizziness. The examination by the Imon Cognitive Impairment Screening Test (ICIS) was conducted by nurses in a face-to-face manner. The proportion of subjects with normal cognitive function decreased with age. The percentage of subjects under 75 years of age with normal cognition was lower among elderly subjects with dizziness than in the general Japanese elderly people. The presence of central abnormalities in the balance function tests was associated with deterioration of cognitive function. However, in subjects under the age of 75 years, there was no relationship between the central findings and cognitive function. No correlation was observed between orthostatic hypotension and cognitive function. No relationship of the cognitive function with anxiety, depression or DHI was observed either. Two patients were diagnosed as having Alzheimer's disease at the Department of Neurology and one patient was diagnosed as having Lewy-body dementia due to abnormalities in the ICIS. Existence of a relationship between vestibular dysfunction and cognitive dysfunction has been reported, and it is important to perform cognitive screening in otolaryngology outpatients. It is necessary to consider intervention in dizzy patients under 75 years of age who are suspected as having MCI.
