EFFECTS OF HIGH-DOSE STATIN THERAPY ON COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN VERY HIGH CARDIOVASCULAR RISK PATIENTS

Aim. To investigate the effects of intensive lipid-lowering therapy on cognitive functions and quality of life in patients (pts) with very high cardiovascular risk. Material and methods. In 93 pts (58 men, 63.2 +/- 9.5 years old with history of clinically evident cardiovascular disease and fasting low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) >1.8 mmol/1 or non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) >2.6 mmol/1 the mental status and quality of life were assessed before and after 6 months of therapy with atorvastatin 80 mg/day. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scale and Questionnaire SF-36 (russian version) were used to evaluate cognitive functions and quality of life. Results. 59 (63%) pts had cognitive dysfunction (less than 26 scores by MoCA scale). We observed significant difference in cognitive status between pts >= 65 and <65 years (21.1 +/- 3.3 vs 25.6 +/- 1.8 points, p<0.05) and between pts with and without stroke (22.4 +/- 3.1 vs 24.7 +/- 2.78 points, p<0.05). Changes of cognitive function were insignificant in all groups. We observed improvement of mean scores in all sections of SF-36 except vitality: physical functioning (PF) from 57.3 +/- 26.7 to 62.9 +/- 23.4 points, role-physical functioning (RP) from 40.0 +/- 27.9 to 47.1 +/- 26.2, bodily pain (BP) from 58.9 +/- 30.1 to 70.3 +/- 25.4, general health (GH) from 51.9 +/- 13.6 to 57.4 +/- 14.1, social functioning (SF) from 62.5 +/- 23.1 to 70.3 +/- 25.4 points, role-emotional (RE) from 53.3 +/- 39.4 to 61.4 +/- 33.1, mental health (MH) from 66.4 +/- 15.1 to 71.3 +/- 18.2 points (p<0.05 for all trends). Values of PF, RP, GH and RE grew more in <65 years group. Conclusion. 63% of patients with high cardiovascular risk had cognitive impairment. No association between statin use and cognition was found. Intensive lipid-lowering therapy was association significant improvement of quality of life according to SF-36.