Detection of underlying dementia in bullous pemphigoid patients using cognitive evaluation tests: a multicenter case-control study

BACKGROUND: Preliminary observation in clinical practice showed that subjective neurocognitive complaints are relatively common in bullous pemphigoid (BP) patients. Yet, little has been done to investigate the neurocognitive status in BP. METHODS: This is a multicenter observational case-control study comprised of 61 BP patients and 65 matched control subjects from 3 medical centers in China from 2014 to 2019. To evaluate the cognitive function between BP patients and matched controls, all the subjects finished the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA). RESULTS: The overall scores were significantly lower in BP than in controls (P(MoCA)<0.001). The percentage of patients screened positive for cognitive impairment in the BP group was significantly higher than in the control group (P(MMSE)<0.001, P(MoCA)<0.001). On multivariate analysis, BP was associated with increased odds of cognitive impairment by MMSE and MoCA (P(MMSE)=0.017, P(MoCA)=0.007). CONCLUSIONS: BP patients had decreased cognitive abilities and were at a higher risk of cognitive impairment. The evaluation of cognitive impairment may be warranted for BP patients in clinical practice for early diagnosis and therapy of dementia.