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Assessing Premorbid Cognitive Ability in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus—a Review With Implications for Future Intervention Studies

  • Psychosocial Aspects (KK Hood, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Associations between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and accelerated cognitive decline are well established. However, the sensitivity of neuropsychological tests to detect early deficits in cognitively normal adults with T2DM is unknown. This review examined cognitive domains and specific neuropsychological tests that are impaired in T2DM, based on clinically significant differences (effect sizes >0.5) between T2DM and groups without T2DM. Nine cross-sectional studies were identified which reported means and standard deviations for individual tests. Tests of executive function, working memory and psychomotor and attentional functions were found to be impaired in T2DM. Impairments of executive function and choice reaction time may have consequences for everyday functioning, in particular the risk of falls in older adults. More research on cognitive deficits in dual-task situations and how they impact everyday functioning is needed; the Trail Making Task, Symbol Digit Modalities Test, Verbal Fluency Task and tests of reaction time and processing speed could be included as core components of test batteries in future intervention studies. They could also be assessed in newly diagnosed T2DM and used to monitor progressive deterioration of cognitive function and the efficacy of therapeutic interventions on cognitive function.

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Conflict of Interest

Rachel Heloise Xiwen Wong, Andrew Scholey and Peter Ranald Charles Howe declare no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Nutrition Research Centre, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Newcastle, New South Wales, 2308, Australia

    Rachel Heloise Xiwen Wong & Peter Ranald Charles Howe

  2. Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Victoria, 3122, Australia

    Andrew Scholey

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  1. Rachel Heloise Xiwen Wong
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Correspondence to Peter Ranald Charles Howe.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Psychosocial Aspects

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Wong, R.H.X., Scholey, A. & Howe, P.R.C. Assessing Premorbid Cognitive Ability in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus—a Review With Implications for Future Intervention Studies. Curr Diab Rep 14, 547 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-014-0547-4

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