© 2000 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Depression and risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease
Results of two prospective community-based studies in The Netherlands
Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine and Department of Psychiatry, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine and Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
Department of Neurology, Universiteit van Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Correspondence: M. I. Geerlings, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 10 408 7478; Fax: +31 10 408 9382; e-mail: geerlings{at}epib.fgg.eur.nl
Declaration of interest Grants detailed in Acknowledgements. No conflict of interest.
Background Depression may be associated with cognitive decline in elderly people with impaired cognition.
Aims To investigate whether depressed elderly people with normal cognition are at increased risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease.
Methods Two independent samples of older people with normal
cognition were selected from the community-based Amsterdam Study of the
Elderly (AMSTEL) and the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA). In AMSTEL,
depression was assessed by means of the Geriatric Mental State Schedule.
Clinical diagnoses of incident Alzheimer's disease were made using a two-step
procedure. In LASA, depression was assessed with the Center for Epidemiologic
Studies Depression Scale. Cognitive decline was defined as a drop of 
3 on
the Mini-Mental State Examination at follow-up.
Results Both in the AMSTEL and the LASA sample, depression was associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline, respectively, but only in subjects with higher levels of education.
Conclusions In a subgroup of more highly educated elderly people, depression may be an early manifestation of Alzheimer's disease before cognitive symptoms become apparent.
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  M. Niti, K.-B. Yap, E.-H. Kua, and T.-P. Ng APOE-{epsilon}4, Depressive Symptoms, and Cognitive Decline in Chinese Older Adults: Singapore Longitudinal Aging Studies J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, February 1, 2009; 64A(2): 306 - 311. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 T. Perrino, C. A. Mason, S. C. Brown, A. Spokane, and J. Szapocznik Longitudinal Relationships Between Cognitive Functioning and Depressive Symptoms Among Hispanic Older Adults J. Gerontol. B. Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci., September 1, 2008; 63(5): P309 - P317. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. A. Reyes-Ortiz, I. M. Berges, M. A. Raji, H. G. Koenig, Y.-F. Kuo, and K. S. Markides Church Attendance Mediates the Association Between Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Functioning Among Older Mexican Americans J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., May 1, 2008; 63(5): 480 - 486. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 X. Sun, D. C. Steffens, R. Au, M. Folstein, P. Summergrad, J. Yee, I. Rosenberg, D. M. Mwamburi, and W. Q. Qiu Amyloid-Associated Depression: A Prodromal Depression of Alzheimer Disease? Arch Gen Psychiatry, May 1, 2008; 65(5): 542 - 550. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. I. Geerlings, T. den Heijer, P. J. Koudstaal, A. Hofman, and M.M.B. Breteler History of depression, depressive symptoms, and medial temporal lobe atrophy and the risk of Alzheimer disease Neurology, April 8, 2008; 70(15): 1258 - 1264. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. S. Wilson, S. E. Arnold, T. L. Beck, J. L. Bienias, and D. A. Bennett Change in Depressive Symptoms During the Prodromal Phase of Alzheimer Disease Arch Gen Psychiatry, April 1, 2008; 65(4): 439 - 445. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. Rajan, K. T. Kelsey, J. D. Schwartz, D. C. Bellinger, J. Weuve, D. Sparrow, A. Spiro III, T. J. Smith, H. Nie, H. Hu, et al. Lead Burden and Psychiatric Symptoms and the Modifying Influence of the {delta}-Aminolevulinic Acid Dehydratase (ALAD) Polymorphism: The VA Normative Aging Study Am. J. Epidemiol., December 15, 2007; 166(12): 1400 - 1408. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. A. Raji, C. A. Reyes-Ortiz, Y.-F. Kuo, K. S. Markides, and K. J. Ottenbacher Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Change in Older Mexican Americans J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol, September 1, 2007; 20(3): 145 - 152. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. Han, J. McCusker, M. Abrahamowicz, M. Cole, and R. Capek The Temporal Relationship Between Depression Symptoms and Cognitive Functioning in Older Medical Patients--Prospective or Concurrent? J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., December 1, 2006; 61(12): 1319 - 1323. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Age-Related Eye Disease Study Research Group Cognitive Impairment in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study: AREDS Report No. 16. Arch Ophthalmol, April 1, 2006; 124(4): 537 - 543. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 N Scarmeas, S M Albert, J J Manly, and Y Stern Education and rates of cognitive decline in incident Alzheimer's disease. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, March 1, 2006; 77(3): 308 - 316. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. Lekwauwa, D. McQuoid, and D. C. Steffens Hippocampal Volume Is Associated With Physician-Reported Acute Cognitive Deficits After Electroconvulsive Therapy J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol, March 1, 2006; 19(1): 21 - 25. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. E. Barnes, G. S. Alexopoulos, O. L. Lopez, J. D. Williamson, and K. Yaffe Depressive symptoms, vascular disease, and mild cognitive impairment: findings from the cardiovascular health study. Arch Gen Psychiatry, March 1, 2006; 63(3): 273 - 279. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. C. Steffens, E. Otey, G. S. Alexopoulos, M. A. Butters, B. Cuthbert, M. Ganguli, Y. E. Geda, H. C. Hendrie, R. R. Krishnan, A. Kumar, et al. Perspectives on Depression, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Cognitive Decline Arch Gen Psychiatry, February 1, 2006; 63(2): 130 - 138. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. L. Gatz, S. L. Tyas, P. St. John, and P. Montgomery Do Depressive Symptoms Predict Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia? J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., June 1, 2005; 60(6): 744 - 747. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L V Kessing and P K Andersen Does the risk of developing dementia increase with the number of episodes in patients with depressive disorder and in patients with bipolar disorder? J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, December 1, 2004; 75(12): 1662 - 1666. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
C. G. Lyketsos and H. Lee Commentary: Insulin Resistance as a Link Between Affective Disorder and Alzheimer's Disease: A Hypothesis in Need of Further Refinement J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., February 1, 2004; 59(2): M185 - 187. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R Stewart Depressive symptoms and cognitive decline--disentangling the effect of affect J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, January 1, 2004; 75(1): 5 - 5. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R S Wilson, C F Mendes de Leon, D A Bennett, J L Bienias, and D A Evans Depressive symptoms and cognitive decline in a community population of older persons J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, January 1, 2004; 75(1): 126 - 129. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 O. L. Lopez, W. J. Jagust, S. T. DeKosky, J. T. Becker, A. Fitzpatrick, C. Dulberg, J. Breitner, C. Lyketsos, B. Jones, C. Kawas, et al. Prevalence and Classification of Mild Cognitive Impairment in the Cardiovascular Health Study Cognition Study: Part 1 Arch Neurol, October 1, 2003; 60(10): 1385 - 1389. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
C.A. Luis, D.A. Loewenstein, A. Acevedo, W.W. Barker, and R. Duara Mild cognitive impairment: Directions for future research Neurology, August 26, 2003; 61(4): 438 - 444. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. S. Charney, C. F. Reynolds III, L. Lewis, B. D. Lebowitz, T. Sunderland, G. S. Alexopoulos, D. G. Blazer, I. R. Katz, B. S. Meyers, P. A. Arean, et al. Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance Consensus Statement on the Unmet Needs in Diagnosis and Treatment of Mood Disorders in Late Life Arch Gen Psychiatry, July 1, 2003; 60(7): 664 - 672. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. A. Incalzi, M. Cesari, C. Pedone, and P. U. Carbonin Construct Validity of the 15-Item Geriatric Depression Scale in Older Medical Inpatients J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol, March 1, 2003; 16(1): 23 - 28. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. PATERNITI, M.-H. VERDIER-TAILLEFER, C. DUFOUIL, and A. ALPEROVITCH Depressive symptoms and cognitive decline in elderly people: Longitudinal study The British Journal of Psychiatry, November 1, 2002; 181(5): 406 - 410. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. Marquis, M. M. Moore, D. B. Howieson, G. Sexton, H. Payami, J. A. Kaye, and R. Camicioli Independent Predictors of Cognitive Decline in Healthy Elderly Persons Arch Neurol, April 1, 2002; 59(4): 601 - 606. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J.C. de la Torre Alzheimer Disease as a Vascular Disorder: Nosological Evidence Stroke, April 1, 2002; 33(4): 1152 - 1162. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. G. Dik, C. Jonker, H. C. Comijs, L. M. Bouter, J. W.R. Twisk, G. J. van Kamp, and D. J.H. Deeg Memory complaints and APOE-{epsilon}4 accelerate cognitive decline in cognitively normal elderly Neurology, December 26, 2001; 57(12): 2217 - 2222. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. T. Gledhill, B. W. J. H. Penninx, A. T. F. Beekman, and D. J. H. Deeg Cognitive Impairment With Chronic Disease in Depression and Mortality Arch Gen Psychiatry, March 1, 2001; 58(3): 306 - 307. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Late-Life Depression Predicts Alzheimer's Disease Journal Watch Psychiatry, July 5, 2000; 2000(705): 3 - 3. [Full Text]
|
|