BACKGROUND: With the aging population comes an increase in functional disability that leads to dependency and institutionalization, as well as social, medical, and economic challenges. This study aimed to classify and assess the factors affecting cognitive deficits in disabled elderly people.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: Disabled patients ≥60 years old were assessed by face-to-face cross-sectional surveys, which were conducted using advanced peer-to-peer software. The ability to perform daily life tasks was assessed using the Modified Barthel Index. Cognitive function was evaluated with the Mini-cognitive assessment instrument. Using these surveys, 9471 individuals were included in this study. The rank-sum test was used to investigate differences between groups. Disordered multi-class logistic regression was used to correct related confounding factors for multivariate analysis.
RESULTS: The ratios of normal cognitive function, cognitive impairment, and dementia were 3.71%, 38.59%, and 57.70%, respectively. The univariate analysis and multivariate analysis showed that older individuals (≥80 years), women, illiterate individuals, and lonely persons were more prone to dementia. Moreover, a history of hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis, and fractures were significantly associated with dementia.
CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of dementia in the elderly disabled patients is very high (57.7%) in Chengdu City. Age (≥80 years), female sex, education level (illiterate individuals), living conditions, and chronic disease were closely correlated with cognitive functions.

Keywords: Aging, Chronic Disease, Cognition, Disabled Persons