Influence of Anesthesia on Incidence of Dementias: 8-Year Follow-Up Study

Objective: Cognitive dysfunction is frequently reported after surgery and anesthesia in elderly patients. This study aims to investigate the incidence of dementia for eight years after anesthesia. Methods: We extracted the data between 2007 and 2020 from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service Database. We analyzed risk of developing dementia after anesthesia using Cox proportional hazard models. Results: Data were collected from 62,541 patient. Among them, subjects with and without anesthesia were 15,857 and 46,684, respectively. Subjects with anesthesia had more hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipemia than those without anesthesia. The risk of dementia incidence was found to increase 1.7 times in subjects with anesthesia (hazard ratio=1.751, 95% confidence interval=1.596-1.921). Even after the correction for gender, age, and comorbidity, the statistical significance of this risk remained (hazard ratio=1.662, 95% confidence interval=1.512-1.827). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that anesthesia possibly contribute on cognitive impairment. Clinician might need closed observation on cognitive function in patients after surgery and anesthesia.