The Use of CNS Medications and the Its Impact on the Cognition of the Elderly - Article Example

This study interests me mostly because of the human mind and cognition subjects that I am greatly fascinated with. The decline that individuals face after a certain age seems to be an area that I find greatly intriguing mostly due to personal experiences. My grandfather who was mostly sick and had to take several medications seemed to be additionally forgetful and confused. Growing up I was told it was his old age however there is more to cognition and the factors that have an impact on the thought process of the elderly as one assumes. The hypothesis for the study was that the use of a single CNS medication or perhaps multiple medications in a certain combination would lead to a decline in the cognitive functioning of the elderly who are cognitively healthy before the use of the medications.

The sample that was selected for this longitudinal population-based study consisted of many residents in the municipality of Lieto who were born in the year 1926 or before that. This made the participants aged 65 or more in the year the study was conducted. Of these participants who were 1196 in number, 488 were male and the remaining 708 were female. During both phases of the study, the participants were interviewed and questions about several personal natures were asked. These had to do with their economic background, factors regarding their physical and psychosocial status, their functional abilities, the medication they consumed as well as their health behavior.

A health physician conducted a clinical examination as part of the research process. Also, a trained research nurse carried out clinical tests. Medical records were also obtained from the Harkatie Health Centre in Lieto and they aided in providing a thorough previous health diagnosis of the participants. The use of Cognitive functioning was made in both phases by performing an MMSE by a trained nurse. The MMSE scale comprises about 23 items, with the score ranging from 0 to 30. The higher scores indicate superior cognitive functioning whereas a mean change in scores denotes the use of an outcome variable.