Comparative prevalence of mild cognitive impairment of Alzheimer’s Disease sub-type in Adult Ugandans living with HIV and demographically matched HIV-negative controls

Abstract

BackgroundPrevalence rate of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) in cART treated people living with HIV (PWH) is unknown.Method277 PWH and 189 HIV-negative Ugandan adults matched by age, sex, and residence were neuropsychologically evaluated i. Impairment in seven domains - including immediate recall, memory and learning (delayed recall, recognition) and others, were defined. Cognitive status – i.e., not impaired, asymptomatic impairment (ANI), minor neurocognitive disorder (MND) or HIV-associated dementia (i.e., HAD, if HIV+), was defined according to Frascatti criteria. Cognitive dysfunction of the AD subtype was defined per Bondi et al. (2014); MCI included moderate (i.e. ≥1 SD worse in ≥2 tests) or pronounced (i.e. >2.0 SD worse in ≥1 tests) cognitive impairments without functional limitation. AD - i.e., ≥1 pronounced impairment in recognition/delayed recall accompanied with functional limitation. Differences in MCI and AD by HIV status and odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated stratified by age (<60 vs. ≥60 years).ResultAmong adults cognitively unimpaired (26.1%) or with ANI (27.8%), amnestic MCI rate was 28.9% (60/204) among PWH and 14.7% (21/133) among HIV- controls (OR = 2.18, 95%CI:1.25, 3.84). Similarly, among adults with MND/HAD, prevalent AD was 38.7% (29/75) among PWH and 23% (14/61) among HIV- controls (OR = 2.11, 95%CI:0.99, 4.50). Among cognitively unimpaired/ANI affected individuals <60 years old, amnestic MCI prevalence was 16.2% for community controls and 30.3% for PWH (OR = 1.9, 95%CI:1.02, 3.60). Among individuals classified as MND or HAD, prevalent AD was 16.3% for HIV- controls vs. 38.6% for PWH (OR = 3.23, 95% CI: 1.23, 8.52) . Among adults 60+ years old with ANI/no impairment, prevalent amnestic MCI was 14.7% for community controls and 41.9% for PWH (OR = 4.04, 95%CI:1.23, 13.40) but the prevalence of AD was identical at 38.9% each for HIV+ and for HIV- controls 60+ years old with MND/HAD.ConclusionUgandan PWH are at increased risk for being diagnosed with MCI/AD, and they may be diagnosed at a younger age than HIV-negative Ugandans. These data highlight the importance of MCI/AD screening in PWH and the need to avail PWH with interventions to mitigate MCI/AD risk.