Prevalence of Severe Neurocognitive Impairment and Its Association with Socio-Demographics and Functionality Among Ugandan Older Persons: A Hospital-Based Study

Figures & data

Table 1 The Associations Between the Studied Variables with Severe Neurocognitive Impairment

Variable	n (%)	Severe Neurocognitive Impairment		χ^Citation2 (p) value
		Yes, n (%)	No, n (%)
Age (µ±SD) ^a	68.62 (7.95)	72.66 (9.52)	67.08 (6.66)	<0.001
Gender
Female	305 (60.52)	97 (31.80)	208 (68.20)	6.90 (0.009)
Male	199 (39.48)	42 (21.11)	157 (78.89)
Area of residence
Rural	380 (75.40)	121 (31.84)	259 (68.16)	14.05 (<0.001)
Urban	124 (24.60)	18 (14.52)	106 (85.48)
Marital status
Divorced	30 (5.95)	1 (20.00)	4 (80.00)	22.31 (<0.001)
Married	277 (54.96)	6 (20.00)	24 (80.00)
Never married	4 (0.79)	59 (21.69)	213 (78.31)
Separated	43 (8.53)	1 (25.00)	3 (75.00)
Widowed	150 (29.76)	63 (42.00)	87 (58.00)
Occupation status
Previously formally employed, retired but currently still active	24 (4.76)	0	24 (100)	35.44 (<0.001)
Previously formally employed, retired but currently not active	48 (9.52)	7 (14.58)	41 (85.42)
Previously informally employed and currently not active	86 (17.06)	43 (50.00)	43 (50.00)
Previously informally employed and currently still active	346 (68.65)	89 (25.72)	257 (74.28)
Level of education
Never attended school	174 (34.52)	88 (50.57)	86 (49.43)	79.75 (<0.001)
Primary level	209 (41.47)	44 (21.05)	165 (78.95)
Secondary level	76 (15.08)	6 (7.89)	70 (92.11)
Tertiary level	45 (8.93)	1 (2.22)	44 (97.78)
Type of housing
Homeless (no formal address)	3 (0.60)	3 (100)	0	9.61 (0.022)
Private	451 (89.48)	126 (27.94)	325 (72.06)
Public	21 (4.17)	5 (23.81)	16 (76.19)
Rental	29 (5.75)	5 (17.24)	24 (82.76)
Presence of a chronic illness
No	123 (24.4)	22 (17.89)	101 (82.11)	7.65 (0.006)
Yes	381 (75.6)	117 (30.71)	264 (69.29)
Presence of physical impairment
No	272 (53.97)	69 (25.37)	203 (74.63)	1.45 (0.229)
Yes	232 (46.03)	70 (30.17)	162 (69.83)
Functional dependence
Total dependency (0–20)	4 (0.79)	4 (100)	0	63.62 (<0.001)
Severe dependency (21–60)	38 (7.50)	27 (71.05)	11 (28.95)
Moderate dependency (61–90)	110 (21.70)	41 (37.27)	69 (62.73)
Slight dependence (91–99)	65 (12.82)	17 (26.15)	48 (73.85)
Complete independence (100)	290 (57.20)	53 (18.28)	237 (81.72)

Note: ^at-test used.

Figure 1 Relationship between functional dependency and neurocognitive impairment.

Table 2 Correlation Between Study Variables

Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Age (1)	1.00
Gender (2)	0.14**	1.00
Area of residence (3)	0.05	0.06	1.00
Marital status (4)	0.20**	−0.24**	0.04	1.00
Occupation status (5)	−0.11*	−0.17**	−0.22**	0.07	1.00
Level of education (6)	−0.04	0.22**	0.29**	−0.17**	−0.45**	1.00
Type of housing (7)	−0.10*	−0.01	0.03	−0.10*	0.03	0.03	1.00
Presence of chronic illness (8)	0.12**	−0.05	0.01	0.01	0.10*	−0.11**	−0.06	1.00
Presence of physical impairment (9)	−0.01	−0.09	−0.02	0.04	0.10*	−0.09*	0.01	0.25**	1.00
Functional dependence (10)	−0.31**	−0.16**	0.05	−0.08	0.07	−0.11*	0.03	−0.11*	−0.04	1.00
Neurocognitive impairment	−0.30**	0.11*	0.19**	−0.20**	−0.15**	0.50**	0.06	−0.04	0.04	0.46**

Notes: * p<0.05; ** p<0.001. r² value represents as (i) very high correlation = r² 0.90 to 1.00, (ii) high correlation = 0.70 to 0.90, (iii) moderate correlation = 0.50 to 0.70, (iv) low correlation = 0.30 to 0.50, and (v) negligible correlation = 0.00 to 0.30. The categorical variables were coded as follows: variables 2 (0 = female, 1 = male), 3 (0 = rural, 1 = urban), 4 (0 = divorced, 1 = married, 2 = never married, 3 = separated, and 4 = widowed), 5 (0 = Previously formally employed, retired but currently still active, 1 = Previously formally employed, retired but currently not active, 2 = Previously informally employed and currently not active, 3 = Previously informally employed and currently still active), 6 (0 = never attended school, 1 = primary level, 2 = secondary level, and 3 = tertiary level), 7(0 = homeless, 1 = private, 2 = public, 3 = rental), and 8 and 9 (0 = no, 1 = yes).

Table 3 Logistic Regression Analysis for Factors Associated with Severe Neurocognitive Impairment

Variable	Bivariate Analysis		Multivariate Analysis
	cOR (95% CI)	p value	aOR(95% CI)	p value
Age	1.09 (1.06–1.12)	<0.001	1.08 (1.04–1.12)	<0.001
Gender
Male	Reference		Reference
Female	1.74 (1.45–2.64)	0.009	2.29 (1.29–4.07)	0.005
Area of residence
Urban	Reference		Reference
Rural	2.75 (1.6–4.74)	<0.001	1.82 (0.94–3.53)	0.077
Marital status
Divorced	0.90 (0.35–2.31)	0.833	0.75 (0.15–3.77)	0.728
Married	Reference		Reference
Never married	1.21 (0.12–11.80)	0.872	Omitted
Separated	0.96 (0.44–2.11)	0.914	0.90 (0.27–2.99)	0.863
Widowed	2.62 (1.70–4.04)	<0.001	1.43 (0.75–2.72)	0.282
Occupation status
Previously formally employed, retired but currently still active	Omitted		Omitted
Previously formally employed, retired but currently not active	0.49 (0.21–1.14)	0.098	1.48 (0.48–4.53)	0.492
Previously informally employed and currently not active	2.89 (1.78–4.70)	<0.001	1.52 (0.80–2.88)	0.202
Previously informally employed and currently still active	Reference		Reference
Level of education
Never attended school	Reference		Reference
Primary level	0.26 (0.17–0.41)	<0.001	0.34 (0.20–0.58)	<0.001
Secondary level	0.08 (0.03–0.20)	<0.001	0.10 (0.03–0.27)	<0.001
Tertiary level	0.02 (0.01–0.16)	<0.001	0.04 (0.04–0.37)	0.004
Type of housing
Homeless	Omitted		–	–
Private	Reference		–	–
Public	0.81 (0.29–2.24)	0.680	–	–
Rental	0.53(0.20–1.43)	0.217	–	–
Presence of a chronic illness
No	Reference		Reference
Yes	2.03 (1.22–3.39)	0.006	1.48 (0.80–2.71)	0.209
Presence of physical impairment
No	1		–	–
Yes	1.27 (0.86–1.88)	0.229	–	–
Functional dependence
Total dependency	Omitted		Omitted
Severe dependency	10.98 (5.12–23.51)	<0.001	7.63 (2.91–20.04)	<0.001
Moderate dependency	2.66 (1.63–4.33)	<0.001	1.98 (1.11–3.55)	0.022
Slight dependence	1.58 (0.84–2.97)	0.151	1.07 (0.51–2.21)	0.862
Complete dependence	Reference		Reference

Abbreviations: aOR, adjusted odds ratio; cOR, crude odds ratio.

World Health Organization. Risk Reduction of Cognitive Decline and Dementia: WHO Guidelines; 2019.

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