The presence of hypertension in the aging process is very common. Although this seems to exert a negative impact on cognition, the results of studies that link them are not conclusive. Amongst the cognitive rating scales, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - III and its abbreviated forms are considered to be the gold standard. This study aims to describe and compare the cognition of elderly people who are hypertensive and non-hypertensive by using short form SF8 and the results of the Mini Mental State Examination . A group of 118 elderly people, of whom 63 were hypertensive, was investigated in a community of a city in the state of Minas Gerais. The average age was 77.52 years (SD=8.89), the average number of years of schooling was 5.83 (SD=4.55) and there were more elderly women (71.2%). Amongst those with lower levels of schooling, only the verbal comprehension rate did not show a significant difference between the hypertensive and non-hypertensive. In the group with higher levels of schooling, no significant difference was found in terms of cognition. A strong relation between the results of the Mini Mental State Examination and short form SF8 was identified in both the hypertensive and non-hypertensive groups. Further studies should be conducted to further the knowledge of the relationship between these instruments.
Cognition; Aging; Educacional; Hypertension
