Siraj RA, McKeever TM, Gibson JE, et al. - Utilizing UK General Practice (GP) health records from The Health Improvement Network database, researchers performed a population-based study to determine the incidence of cognitive impairment and dementia in individuals with and without a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) diagnosis. Patients with a verified diagnosis of COPD ≥ 40 years old, were matched to up to four individuals without a COPD diagnosis by age, gender and GP practice. Of COPD patients (n = 62,148), 9% had cognitive impairment vs 7% in non-COPD individuals (n = 230,076). Even though an increased occurrence of cognitive impairment was seen in COPD patients, incidents of dementia have not been identified as often in COPD patients. This raises questions about undiagnosed dementia and underlines the need for a comprehensive assessment of the population.