Association Between White Matter Hyperintensity and Lacunar Infarction on MRI and Subitem Scores of the Japanese Version of Mini-Mental State Examination for Testing Cognitive Decline: The Ohasama Study

Abstract

We assessed whether subitem scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) associated independently with cerebral white matter hyperintensity (WMH) and lacunar infarction (LI). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropsychological evaluation (MMSE) were performed in 1008 elderly individuals from the Ohasama Study (348 men, 660 women [65.5%]; age 68.0 ± 6.0 [mean ± SD] years; MMSE score, 26.5 ± 2.9). The relationships between MRI findings and MMSE subitem scores were analyzed by logistic regression. Significant associations were observed between the MMSE subitems “Orientation to place” and WMH, and “Copy a figure” and LI. Pathological changes were detected by brain MRI associated with a decrease in cognitive function in healthy elderly individuals.

• cognitive function
• silent cerebrovascular lesions
• stroke
• general population
• white matter hyperintensity
• lacunar infarction

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to the staff members of the Iwate Prefectural Stroke Registry and to the public health nurses in Ohasama for their valuable support of this project.

Declaration of interest: This study was supported in part by Grants for Scientific Research (18390192, 18590587, 19590929, 19790423, 20590629, 21390201, 21591016, 22590767, 22790556, 22890017, 23249036, and 23790242) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan; Grant-in-Aid (H18-Junkankitou [Seishuu]-Ippan-012, H20-Junkankitou[Seishuu]-Ippan-009, 013 and H23-Junkankitou [Senshuu]-Ippan-005) from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Health and Labor Sciences Research Grants, Japan; Grant-in-Aid for Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) fellows (18.54042, 19.7152, 20.7198, 20.7477, and 20.54043); Health Science Research Grants and Medical Technology Evaluation Research Grants from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Japan; Japan Arteriosclerosis Prevention Fund; Biomedical Innovation Grants; a Grant from the Miso Central Institute, Tokyo, Japan; and a Grant from the Sendai Knowledge Cluster Initiative, Sendai, Japan. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.