<b><i>Background:</i></b> The COVID-19 pandemic has had a great impact on cognitive health in Latin American older adults, increasing the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. Our objective was to analyze the prevalence of dementia and the associated factors in Latin American older adults during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A multicentric first phase cross-sectional observational study was conducted during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Five thousand two hundred and forty-five Latin American adults over 60 years of age were studied in 10 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. We used the telephone version of Montreal Cognitive Assessment, the “Alzheimer Disease 8” scale for functional and cognitive changes, and the abbreviated version of the Yesavage depression scale. We also asked for sociodemographic and lockdown data. All the evaluation was made by telephone. Cross-tabulations and χ² tests were used to determine the variability of the prevalence of impairment by sociodemographic characteristics and binary logistic regression to assess the association between dementia and sociodemographic factors. <b><i>Results:</i></b> We observed that the prevalence of dementia in Latin America is 15.6%, varying depending on the country (Argentine = 7.83 and Bolivia = 28.5%). The variables most associated with dementia were race and age. It does not seem to be associated with the pandemic but with social and socio-health factors. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The prevalence of dementia shows a significant increase in Latin America, attributable to a constellation of ethnic, demographic, and socioeconomic factors.

Estudios recientes muestran que una alta prevalencia de trastornos psicóticos y por consumo de sustancias comparten mecanismos cerebrales comunes que pueden afectar el rendimiento cognitivo, la adhesión al tratamiento y, con ello, aumentar el riesgo de recaídas. Objetivo: Comparar el rendimiento cognitivo en pacientes con alcoholismo y con esquizofrenia. Material y Métodos: Estudio observacional que evaluó a 18 pacientes con esquizofrenia y 32 con trastorno mental debido a consumo de alcohol. Se utilizó la batería neuropsicológica breve NEUROPSI, validada en español. Resultados: Se encontraron diferencias significativas entre ambos grupos en áreas de función ejecutiva y memoria declarativa (a largo plazo), con mayores puntajes de deterioro en el grupo de pacientes con esquizofrenia. Conclusiones: Los resultados permiten comprender y explicar las dificultades observadas en pacientes con esquizofrenia en cuanto a funciones de regulación conductual y recuperación de información.

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