Relationship between hemoglobin glycation index and mild cognitive impairment risk in middle-aged and elderly people: a cohort study from CHARLS 2011-2018.

BACKGROUND

Blood glucose levels may be correlated with cognitive function. The hemoglobin glycation index (HGI) quantifies the difference between observed and predicted glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) to characterize individual variation in hemoglobin glycation susceptibility. This analysis aimed to explore the association between HGI values and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) risk in middle-aged and elderly people.

METHODS

This cohort study included non-MCI participants (aged ≥45 years) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) database in 2011, with follow-up data collected through 2018. The association between HGI and MCI risk was investigated by Cox regression analyses, and the results were summarized as hazard ratio with 95% confidence interval [HR (95%CI)]. Further analyses were carried out according to different characteristic subgroups. The restricted cubic splines (RCS) curve was applied to examine the non-linear relationship.

RESULTS

A total of 5,723 participants were included in this analysis, of whom 1,088 (19.01%) had MCI and 4,635 (80.99%) did not. HGI exhibited a significant U-shaped relationship with the risk of MCI (p < 0.05). When HGI was classified by quintiles, Q1 [HR = 1.22 (1.00-1.49), p = 0.045] and Q5 [HR = 1.26 (1.03-1.53)] of HGI were associated with a higher risk of MCI versus Q2 of HGI. Furthermore, the relationship between low/high HGI values and higher MCI risk was found in subgroups of age <65 years, males, non-diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases (all p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Low and high HGI values were related to a higher MCI risk among middle-aged and elderly people, and HGI values may assist in identifying high-risk populations for MCI.