Compared with ischaemic stroke patients with both lower serum TIMP‐1 and MMP‐9 levels, the ORs were 2.83 (95% CI, 1.74‐4.60) for cognitive impairment defined by MMSE and 2.99 (95% CI, 1.81‐4.95) by MoCA in participants with both higher levels (Table 4). Here, MMP9 is linked to Cognitive impairment.