The Prevalence of Cognitive Impairment in Elderly Nursing Home Residents

Backgrounds Physical and cognitive impairment in the elderly interferes in their health. Cognitive impairment, as a common complication in the elderly, attracted the attention of many specialists. The current study aimed at assessing the psychological disorders in the elderly living in nursing homes in Khorramabad, Iran.
Methods & Materials The current descriptive-analytical study employed census method to evaluate 70 residents of Sedigh Nursing Home in Khorramabad, 2014. Data were collected by the standardized Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) to assess cognitive status. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 16, and descriptive and inferential statistics tests (Chi-square).
Results Out of 70 study subjects, 48 (68.6%) were female. The mean age of the subjects was 5.6±4.69 years; ranged 60 to 91 years. Generally, 74.3% of the subjects had different levels of cognitive impairment; (27.1%) mild, (34.3%) moderate, and (22.9%) severe.
Conclusion Based on the high prevalence of cognitive impairment among the study subjects, it is recommended to employ measures such as reducing stress and doing proper exercises and cognitive behavior therapies to manage or postpone cognitive impairments. Also, early diagnosis of cognitive impairment in the elderly is recommended. Future well designed studies on community-dwelling older adults are suggested.