Cognitive Function Assessment in Transylvania

A cross-sectional quantitative survey was performed in Harghita County (Transylvania, Romania). The patients were recruited from three randomly chosen settlements (Joseni, Ciumani and Lăzarea) with the help of general practitioners of these villages. All of the patients were informed about the purpose of the study and the voluntary nature of the participation. Participants gave written informed consent before taking part in the study. The protocol of the study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Babeș-Bolyai (RO) and by the Code of Deontology for the professions of psychologists, elaborated by the Romanian College of Psychologists. Cognitive functions were assessed independently for each participant by accredited clinical psychologists. Inclusion criteria were: 1) ages between 35 and 65 years [8 (link), 9 ], 2) diagnosed with T2D or hypertension or both (comorbid T2D and hypertension) according to the standards of the American Diabetes Association (2020) [10 (link)] and according to the standards of the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association guidelines [11 ], respectively, and 3) diabetes and/or hypertension duration at least 5 years. From this study, patients were excluded with 1) any medical illnesses other than T2D, dyslipidemia, hypertension and obesity, 2) a history of hypoglycemic coma or complications of diabetes, 3) primary neurological condition as history of transient ischemic attacks, cerebrovascular stroke or epilepsy or psychiatric disease, 4) previous serious head injury, 5) any sensory or motor disorder that would preclude psychological testing (including blindness), 6) regular treatment with any medications known to have psychoactive effect, and 7) drug or alcohol abuse. The control group was made up of people who applied at the invitation of the municipality's management and did not have a chronic illness. Their health status was checked at the health clinic of the municipality.
The patients were divided into three groups: a group with T2D, a group with hypertension and a group with both diseases. The control group was specifically recruited from the settlement where the patients were registered.