Influence of blood pressure patterns on cognitive function in patients with Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of blood pressure patterns on memory function in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods A total of 68 PD patients were collected from the Department of Neurology of Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences) between August 2018 and July 2021. All patients received 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) and were divided into reverse dipping group (n=17), reduced dipping group (n=30), normal group (n=17), and extreme dipping group (n=4) according to the reduction rate of nocturnal systolic blood pressure; nocturnal hypertension group (n=37) and non⁃nocturnal hypertension group (n=31) according to nocturnal blood pressure. Global cognitive function was assessed by Mini⁃Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Memory function was evaluated by Logical Memory Test (LMT), Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) and Digit Span Test (DST). Results Among the 4 groups with different blood pressure pattern, statistical significances were found in duration (χ2=8.599, P=0.035), AVLT imediate 3 (F=3.100, P=0.033) and AVLT delayed (χ2=7.828, P=0.050). Pairwise comparison showed that the duration was longer in the reverse dipping group (Z=4.224, P=0.043) and the normal group (Z=4.821, P=0.028) than in the reduced dipping group; the AVLT imediate 3 of the reverse dipping group was lower than that of the normal group (t=⁃2.028, P=0.048) and the extreme dipping group (t=⁃2.673, P=0.010); the AVLT imediate 3 of the reduced dipping group was lower than that of the extreme dipping group (t=2.554, P=0.013). Compared with non⁃nocturnal hypertension group, the morbidity of hypertension was higher (χ2=6.399, P=0.011) and the duration was longer (Z=⁃2.008, P=0.045) in the nocturnal hypertension group. There was no significant difference in memory function between 2 groups (P＞0.05, for all). Conclusions PD patients with reverse dipping blood pressure pattern are more likely to influence cognitive function, especially in memory function. Continuous blood pressure monitoring should be performed in PD patients.

Keywords

• parkinson disease
• blood pressure
• cognition disorders