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Meta-Analysis
. 2021 May;11(5):e02108.
doi: 10.1002/brb3.2108. Epub 2021 Mar 20.

Associations between coronary heart disease and risk of cognitive impairment: A meta-analysis

Xuan Liang  1 , Yilin Huang  1 , Xu Han  2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Associations between coronary heart disease and risk of cognitive impairment: A meta-analysis

Xuan Liang et al. Brain Behav. 2021 May.

Abstract

Background: Several studies have demonstrated that coronary heart disease (CHD) is a high risk factor for cognitive impairment, whereas other studies showed that there was no association between cognitive impairment and CHD. The relationship between CHD and cognitive impairment is still unclear based on these conflicting results. Thus, it is of importance to evaluate the association between CHD and cognitive impairment. The present study made a meta-analysis to explore the association between CHD and risk of cognitive impairment.

Methods: Articles exploring the association between CHD and cognitive impairment and published before November 2020 were searched in the following databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Medline, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. We used STATA 12.0 software to compute the relative risks (RRs), odds ratios (ORs), or hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Results: The meta-analysis showed a positive association between CHD and risk of all-cause cognitive impairment with a random effects model (RR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.36, I2 = 82.8%, p < .001). Additionally, the study showed a positive association between myocardial infraction (MI) and risk of all-cause cognitive impairment with a random effects model (RR = 1.49, 95% CI 1.20 to 1.84, I2 = 76.0%, p < .001). However, no significant association was detected between angina pectoris (AP) and risk of all-cause cognitive impairment with a random effects model (RR = 1.23, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.58, I2 = 79.1%, p < .001). Subgroup studies also showed that CHD patients are at higher risk for vascular dementia (VD), but not Alzheimer's disease (AD) (VD: RR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.28-1.39; AD: RR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.92-1.07).

Conclusion: In a word, CHD was significantly associated with an increased risk of developing cognitive impairment.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; coronary heart disease; dementia; meta-analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest related to this study.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Forest plot regarding association between CHD and risk of all‐cause cognitive impairment. Abbreviations: CHD, coronary heart disease; OR, odds ratio; RR, relative risk
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Forest plot regarding association between MI and risk of all‐cause cognitive impairment. Abbreviations: MI, myocardial infraction; OR, odds ratio; RR, relative risks
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Forest plot regarding association between AP and risk of all‐cause cognitive impairment. Abbreviations: AP, angina pectoris; OR, odds ratio; RR, relative risks
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Forest plot regarding association between CHD and risk of AD. Abbreviations: AD, Alzheimer's disease; CHD, coronary heart disease; OR, odds ratio; RR, relative risks
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Forest plot regarding association between MI and risk of AD. Abbreviations: AD, Alzheimer's disease; MI, myocardial infraction; OR, odds ratio; RR, relative risks
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Forest plot regarding association between AP and risk of AD. Abbreviations: AD, Alzheimer's disease; AP, angina pectoris; OR, odds ratio; RR, relative risks
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Forest plot regarding association between CHD and risk of VD. Abbreviations: CHD, coronary heart disease; OR, odds ratio; RR, relative risks; VD, vascular dementia
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