Effect of cerebral small vessel disease on cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The occurrence of various cerebrovascular diseases can easily induce cognitive impairment in the elderly. Therefore, it is of great clinical significance to correctly understand the relationship between these key pathogenic factors and cognitive impairment of Parkinson’s disease. To explore the effect of cerebrovascular disease on cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease by meta-analysis. METHODS: PubMed, Medline, Embase, and Web of Science databases were selected as the sources for the literature search. English language articles were included. Literature related to this study were published from January 2001 to January 2021. Literature was screened and the quality was evaluated. RevMan 5.3 software was used to perform the meta-analysis on the effects of cerebrovascular disease on cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease. RESULTS: Six articles were finally included, involving a total of 5,552 cases. Of these, 2,684 were positive cases, accounting for 48.3%. Compared with patients with non-Parkinson’s cognitive impairment, patients with cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease caused by cerebral small vessel disease had significant differences in executive ability (OR =1.62, 95% CI: 1.21–2.16, P=0.001), memory (OR =1.48, 95% CI: 1.30–1.68, P<0.00001), information processing (OR =0.60, 95% CI: 0.35–1.03, P=0.07), language communication (OR= 4.72, 95% CI: 3.26–6.85, P<0.00001), and overall cognitive function (OR =0.72, 95% CI: 0.52–0.99, P=0.05). CONCLUSIONS: A total of 6 studies were included in this meta-analysis on the influence of cerebral small vessel disease on cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease. This study shows that cerebrovascular disease has different effects on all aspects of cognitive function of Parkinson’s disease.