The Association Between Helicobacter pylori Infection and Cognitive Disorder in Iranian Elderly Population

Background: Demographic transition and increasing elderly population in Iran can be associated with age related disorders such as dementia. Recently, Helicobacter pylori infection was considered as a risk factor for cognitive impairment. Objectives: This study aimed to examine this relationship between H. pylori infection and cognitive impairment in Iranian elderly. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on elderly subjects initially enrolled in the Amirkola health and ageing project. Demographic information was collected using a questionnaire and all participants filled the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) questionnaire. The maximum MMSE score is 30 points. Scores of 25 to 30 out of 30 are considered normal 21 to 24 as mild, 10 to 20 as moderate and 20 ur/mL was considered positive. Results: The study was performed on 1514 individuals with an average age of 69.37.4 years. Overall, 836 (55.2 %) of the participants were male. Furthermore, 68.7% of the participants had normal MMSE score and 75.7% were seropositive for H. pylori. The risk of cognitive disorder in H. pylori positive patients (29.8%) was lower than H. pylori positive patients (35.9%) (RR = 0.81, CI95% = 0.67 - 0.97). No significant correlation was detected between H. pylori antibody level and MMSE score (r = 0.039, P = 0.129). Conclusions: In our population of elderly individuals in northern Iran, H. pylori infection was not associated with cognitive impairment in this large population.