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Karnon, Benjamin

University of British Columbia

Background Individuals with subcortical ischemic vascular cognitive impairment (SIVCI) exhibit signs of small vessel disease.(1, 2) Deficits in executive functioning are a hallmark of subcortical ischemic vascular cognitive impairment.(3) To date, the association of executive functioning with health-related quality of life remains unknown among individuals with subcortical ischemic vascular cognitive impairment (SIVCI). Purpose To determine whether executive functioning independently contributes to health-related quality of life among individuals with subcortical ischemic vascular cognitive impairment at baseline. Methodology This was a secondary cross-sectional baseline analysis of a 12-month, parallel group, proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial of 89 community-dwelling adults with SIVCI, aged 55 years and older.(4) I constructed 3 distinct multiple linear regression models to determine the association between 3 unique processes of executive functioning - set shifting, working memory and response inhibition (independent variable) and health-related quality of life as measured by the EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level(5) (dependent variable). Forward stepwise regression techniques were used to build a multivariate regression model that ultimately included the covariates of age(6), group, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)(7) score, 6-minute walk time(8) and education(9). Results The executive functioning domains - set shifting, working memory and response inhibition measured in this study did not demonstrate a statistically significant association with health-related quality of life. The p-values for the multivariate analysis of set shifting, working memory, and response inhibition were 0.680, 0.444, and 0.342, respectively. Conclusion This thesis found no significant relationship between executive functioning and health-related quality of life at baseline. It is plausible that the lack of statistical significance may be attributable to the small sample size of the study as the study was powered for a primary outcome not included in these analyses. Further, the EQ-5D-5L(5), a measure of health-related quality of life, may not capture all dimensions of health-related quality of life comprehensively. Future research could investigate the relationship between executive functioning and alternative measures of health-related quality of life, as well as explore their longitudinal impacts.

Text

2024-08-22

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89001

Experimental Medicine

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/