The association of sun-cured tobacco and cigarette use with global cognitive function, verbal fluency and memory in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction Some elderly people in China prefer sun-cured tobacco to cigarettes, and the composition of sun-cured tobacco and cigarettes is inconsistent. The influence of cigarettes on the cognitive function of COPD patients has been widely reported, but the research on sun-cured tobacco is relatively rare. Our study explored the association of sun-cured tobacco and cigarette use with cognitive decline in COPD patients. Methods This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 401 COPD patients were included, and 190, 103, and 108 participants were included in non-smoking, cigarette-smoking, and sun-cured tobacco groups, respectively. We evaluated the global cognitive function using the Beijing version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, verbal fluency function using an animal fluency test, and memory function using ten unrelated words. Results The participants of both cigarette-smoking (AOR=11.18; 95% CI: 1.28– 97.5) and sun-cured tobacco (AOR=10.46; 95% CI: 1.14–96.4) groups were more likely to develop mild cognitive impairment compared to the non-smoking group. The mean z scores of global cognitive function, verbal fluency, and memory were lower in cigarette-smoking and sun-cured tobacco groups than those in a non-smoking group; Multivariable linear regression showed that global cognitive function (β= -0.61; 95% CI: -1.04 – -0.18; and β= -0.48; 95% CI: -0.91 – -0.05) and verbal fluency (β= -0.79; 95% CI: -1.33 – -0.26; and β= -0.69; 95% CI: -1.23 – -0.16) of the sun-cured tobacco group and the cigarette-smoking group were significantly lower than those of the non-smoking group when adjusting for demographic and disease-related characteristics. However, there was no significant difference between the cigarette-smoking and sun-cured tobacco groups in global cognitive function, verbal fluency, and memory. Conclusions Compared with non-smokers, the use of cigarettes and sun-cured tobacco may damage the cognitive function of COPD patients, especially in global cognitive function and verbal fluency.

Keywords

• sun-cured tobacco
• cigarette
• cognitive decline
• copd