Abstract

Study design: Cross sectional analytical study. Purpose: To investigate the connection between cognitive impairment (CI) and diabetic retinopathy (DR), as well as to distinguish age-related cognitive decline from cognitive decline attributed to diabetes. Methods: Three hundred patients, carefully matched in terms of age and gender, were divided into three groups: diabetes without DR, those with DR, and those without diabetes. cognitive assessment tool used was Montreal cognitive assessment. Results: The median age was 58 years in the DR group and duration of diabetes was around 10 years. The MOCA score in DR (22.5±3.3) was lower (p=0.015) than in NODR (25.3±3.3). 56% of patients scored <2.5 in abstraction and calculation domain. Conclusion: CI is closely correlated with the DR in patients with T2DM. MOCA screening tool may provide effective screening methods for the early diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction in T2DM.