THE VASCULAR COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT AND FUNCTIONAL DEPENDENCE AMONG POST-STROKE PATIENTS AT HOSPITAL UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA

Effectiveness of stroke care and treatment recently was associated with increase stroke survivors however, half of them are left with significant vascular cognitive impairment and functional dependent. The aims of this study is to determine the association between Vascular Cognitive Impairment (VCI) with clinical characteristics and functional dependence among 42 post-stroke patients admitted at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (Hosp.USM), Kelantan, Malaysia. Personal information, level of cognitive impairment using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and functional dependence and independent level using a Barthel index data was collected. The result showed that 23.8% of stroke patients had severe vascular cognitive impairment, 40.5% had mild vascular cognitive impairment, while the other 35.7% had no vascular cognitive impairment. Besides, the functional level indicated that 19.0% of participants were dependent and 81.0% were independent. There was no statistically significant association between vascular cognitive impairment with gender, stroke location, and underlying medical disease. However, a significant and positive correlation was found between the level of vascular cognitive impairment and functional dependence level (r = 0.553, p < 0.001). An early assessment of the degree of cognitive impairment and functional independence will help enhance the treatment of stroke patients and reduce potential problems such as secondary strokes or other cardiovascular events.