Memory Loss and Decreased Executive Function are Associated with Functional Limitation in Patients with Heart Failure

Abstract

Background: This study examined cognitive domains of memory, attention, and executive function in Korean patients with heart failure (HF) and community-dwelling participants with other non-HF medical conditions (medical participants) and their effects on functional capacity.

Method: Using a comparative descriptive design, 118 HF patients and 83 medical participants underwent face-to-face interviews for neuropsychological testing of cognitive status and functional capacity.

Results: More HF patients had cognitive impairment in memory and executive function using the 7th percentile Z-scores of medical participants as cutoff scores: immediate (35.0% vs. 6.0%) and delayed recall memory (34.5% vs. 8.4%), and executive function (28.6% vs. 6.0%). Independent of age, education, and the presence of HF, delayed recall memory was a significant predictor (b = 1.35, p = .037), accounting for 1.4% of additional variance in functional capacity.

Conclusion: Memory and executive function were worse in HF patients than medical participants, with functional limitation increasing with memory loss. Cognitive screening is recommended in routine clinical practice in patients with HF.