| Abstrakt: |
Purpose: Brain atrophy is a decline in brain volume caused by the degeneration or death of neurons and their connections. This study aimed to determine the risk factors associated with brain atrophy diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) scan. Materials and Methods: A prospective case-control design was carried out in this study over six months from October 2022 to March 2023. All participants included in this study were Iraqis aged ≥ 18 years. Cases were selected from those who were subjected to the CT unit and diagnosed with brain atrophy. Controls were selected from the same medical complex who were subjected to a CT unit and diagnosed with normal brain findings. The control group was matched by age (± 3 years) and gender for the cases. A systematic sampling technique was used as a sampling method for cases. Results: A total of 192 subjects were included and analyzed in this study. Of those, 96 (50.0%) subjects were diagnosed with brain atrophy (cases) and 96 (50.0%) subjects were healthy (controls). The following independent factors were significantly associated with brain atrophy: family history of brain atrophy (p<0.001), smoking habit (p=0.002), alcohol intake (p<0.001), and cardiac disease (p<0.001). However, smoking (p=0.038, OR=2.348, CI= 1.050 – 5.250), alcohol intake (p=0.044, OR=2.503, CI= 0.648 – 9.673), and cardiac disease (p=0.001, OR=5.015, CI= 2.003 – 12.556) were reported to be risk factors for developing brain atrophy. Conclusion: Smoking, alcohol intake, and cardiac disease were noted to increase the risk of brain atrophy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
