Cognitive functions and their effect on disability in learning process and knowledge application in patients with arterial hypertension

Abstract

Arterial hypertension (AH) is one of the most important medical and social problems due to the high incidence, disability and mortality of the population in Ukraine.

The aim of the investigation is to determine the influence of cognitive functions on disability in learning process and knowledge application in patients with hypertension.

Materials and methods. 139 patients with essential AH of II and III st. (with the consequences of a stroke) at the age of 30–59 were examined. The patients were divided into 2 groups: the first group – patients with AH, stage II (29 patients) and the second group – patients with AH, stage III (110 patients). An average age of the patients with stage II was 43.1 ± 3.1, with stage III – 45.3 ± 5.6. Psychological examination and disability tests were carried out according to generally accepted methods. Statistical processing was performed in Microsoft Excel and Ascess, the results of the correlation analysis were described at a confidence level of P < 0.05.

Results. Light cognitive impairments were detected in all patients with stage II, stage III AH patients had moderate impairments – 25.8 % of cases and light ones – 74.2 % of cases. Significant cognitive functions affects among patients with AH stage II and stage III were determined in memory (44.4 and 97.3 %), attention (77.8 and 90.6 %), intellect (44.4 and 75.6 %) and mental process (44.4 and 64.9 % of cases). Patients with stage III AH after a stroke had significant problems with their eyesight and hearing, concentration of attention and process of thinking, solving simple and complex problems. Moreover, a number of the following factors have contributed to the above-mentioned condition: emotional instability, nonconformity, desire to present themselves in a "favorable light", anxiety, depressive and paranoid tendencies,  sensitive, egocentric, anosognotic response to the disease, exacerbation of accentuation of an excitable nature and low work efficiency, acute accentuation of personality traits, impairment of short- and long-term speech, auditory, imaginative, visual and informative memory, control of expression of understanding and emotions, interpersonal and internal personal emotional intelligence and logical thinking.

Conclusions. The study of personality and character traits, the internal picture of the disease and cognitive functions are essential to determine psychoemotional disorders in patients with AH after a stroke. Therefore, such research in the practice of medical and social expertise in this pathology is obligatory.