Old age is a sensitive period of human life and attention to the condition of this age group seems essential to promote their health and prevent diseases. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of cognitive syndromes of old age in the elderly of Birjand

 

Methodology: This is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study with two stages. The statistical population of the study includes all elderly people in Birjand in 2018, which was conducted using multi-stage proportional cluster sampling method based on the cluster heads of the Post Company on a sample size of 1,400 elderly people over 60 years of age in Birjand and 400 elderly people in the villages of Birjand

 

The instruments of the first stage of the study included the standard questionnaire for comprehensive health assessment of the elderly, whose validity and reliability have been confirmed in the country, the German SECA scale for measuring weight, and the Jiohai sphygmomanometer for measuring blood pressure. The instruments of the second stage of the study included standard questionnaires for assessing cognitive status, CT scan, and MRI. After collecting the data, it will be entered into STATA software and analyzed using descriptive statistics using chi-square tests and Fisher's exact test at the α = 0.05 level

 

Results: The status of cognitive syndromes of old age for 1,418 elderly people in Birjand and 400 elderly people in rural centers of Birjand city were completed. The results showed that 91.69% were normal, 0.30% had cognitive problems, and this situation for 1418 elderly people in Birjand city showed that 22.3% of men and 77.7% of women had cognitive problems. Of these, 62.9% were between 65 and 75 years old, and 37.1% were older than 75 years old. 67.3% were married, 0.1% were single, 31.9% were widowed, and 0.4% were divorced. Also, the highest percentage of people with problems was among housewives with 76.4% and the lowest among employees with 0%. The prevalence of vulnerability in the studied elderly was 6.7%. This prevalence was reported to be 23.6% in women and 19.4% in men. In terms of metabolic syndrome, about 62.5% of the elderly had metabolic syndrome, which was (33.4% in men and 66.6% in women). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in women was significantly higher than in men. (P < 0.001) The prevalence of abdominal obesity (wc), diabetes, and hypertension in people with cognitive impairment was reported to be 61.8%, 30%, and 58.5%, respectively. The results also showed that there is a significant relationship between depression and cognitive impairment

 

Conclusion: According to the results obtained, it is necessary to take measures and plans to prevent and treat this disease in the programs of the Office of the Elderly of the

Ministry of Health in order to prevent and control diseases of the elderly and ultimately improve the health of the elderly