The Effect of Vitamin Supplementation on Cognitive Function in the Elderly

Lee, Sam Soon; Chun, Byung Yeol; Kim, Sang Soon

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the effects of an oral vitamin supplementation on cognitive function in the elderly, 254 elderly people(experiment group) who were received an oral vitamin supplement for one-year was compared with 292 elderly who were treated as the control group in Koje city during the study period(from February 1997 to March 1998). METHODS: The cognitive function was tested by mini-mental state examination Korea(MMSE-K). Multiple regression analysis was done to control other confounding variables such as gender, age, educational level, smoking, alcohol, a past 15-day medical history, satisfaction for living cost, family number, cognitive function of the baseline survey. RESULTS: In the baseline survey, the prevalence of cognitive impairment was 31%(mild impairment 12.5% and severe impairment 18.5%). There was a significant difference(0.76) in cognitive change in the elderly between two groups, 0.68 improved in the experiment group and 0.08 worsen in the control group(p<0.01). In multiple regression analysis, the significant variables were an oral vitamin supplementation, a past 15-day medical history, family number, cognitive function of baseline survey(p<0.05). The improvement of cognitive function was observed in those who do not have a past 15-day medical history, have a large family number, and have a low cognitive function of the baseline survey. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that an oral vitamin supplementation was effective in improving the cognitive function in the elderly and more effective in the cases with abnormal cognitive function.