Memory Decline and Depression Onset in U.S. and European Older Adults

Objectives: We explore the association between different patterns of change in depressive symptoms and memory trajectories in US and European Mediterranean (Spain, France, Italy, and Israel) and non-Mediterranean (Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria) older adults. Methods: Samples consisted of 3,466 participants from the Health Retirement Study (HRS) and 3,940 participants from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement (SHARE). Individuals were grouped as follows: non-case depression (NO DEP), persistent depression (DEP), depression onset (ONSET), depression recovery (RECOV), and fluctuating (FLUCT). Memory was measured using immediate and delayed recall tests. Linear mixed models were used. Results: DEP and RECOV had significantly lower baseline memory scores compared to NO DEP, at intercept level. At slope level, ONSET had a significantly faster decline in both tasks compared to NO DEP. Discussion: Cross-cohort robust and consistent new empirical evidence on the association between depression onset and faster decline in memory scores is provided.

[1]  T. Chandola,et al.  Can sleep disturbance influence changes in mental health status? Longitudinal research evidence from ageing studies in England and Japan. , 2017, Sleep medicine.

[2]  J. Manjourides,et al.  Association of Ambient Air Pollution with Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Older Adults: Results from the NSHAP Study , 2016, Environmental health perspectives.

[3]  Michelle Grayson,et al.  Cognitive health , 2016, Nature.

[4]  K. Pérès,et al.  High Level of Depressive Symptoms at Repeated Study Visits and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke over 10 Years in Older Adults: The Three‐City Study , 2016, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[5]  S. Réhman,et al.  Validation of the Eight-Item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) Among Older Adults , 2015 .

[6]  Michael C. Frank,et al.  Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science , 2015, Science.

[7]  E. Grundy,et al.  Are different measures of depressive symptoms in old age comparable? An analysis of the CES‐D and Euro‐D scales in 13 countries , 2015, International journal of methods in psychiatric research.

[8]  Y. Conwell,et al.  Course of late‐life depression in China is chronic and unremitting , 2015, International journal of geriatric psychiatry.

[9]  Y. Stern,et al.  Depressive Symptoms Precede Memory Decline, but Not Vice Versa, in Non‐Demented Older Adults , 2014, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[10]  J. Roiser,et al.  Cognitive impairment in depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis , 2013, Psychological Medicine.

[11]  Stephen M Thielke,et al.  Decline in health for older adults: five-year change in 13 key measures of standardized health. , 2013, The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences.

[12]  A. Lundervold,et al.  Subthreshold Depressive Symptoms have a Negative Impact on Cognitive Functioning in Middle-Aged and Older Males , 2013, Front. Psychol..

[13]  Xiu-qiang Ma,et al.  The relationship between self-rated health and objective health status: a population-based study , 2013, BMC Public Health.

[14]  D. Lakens,et al.  Rewarding Replications , 2012, Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

[15]  I. J. Deary,et al.  Is there a bidirectional relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive ability in older people? A prospective study using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing , 2012, Psychological Medicine.

[16]  B. Lawlor,et al.  Frailty, depression, and anxiety in later life , 2012, International Psychogeriatrics.

[17]  D. Chor,et al.  Self-rated health compared with objectively measured health status as a tool for mortality risk screening in older adults: 10-year follow-up of the Bambuí Cohort Study of Aging. , 2012, American journal of epidemiology.

[18]  J. Gallacher,et al.  Factors associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression in five cohorts of community based older people : the HALCyon ( Healthy Ageing across the Life Course ) , 2013 .

[19]  H. Litwin.  Social networks and well-being: a comparison of older people in Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean countries. , 2010, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[20]  J. Os,et al.  Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Decline in Community‐Dwelling Older Adults , 2010, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[21]  M. Jylhä.  What is self-rated health and why does it predict mortality? Towards a unified conceptual model. , 2009, Social science & medicine.

[22]  I. Lang,et al.  Cognitive health among older adults in the United States and in England , 2009, BMC geriatrics.

[23]  Scott M Hofer,et al.  Integrative data analysis through coordination of measurement and analysis protocol across independent longitudinal studies. , 2009, Psychological methods.

[24]  A. Beekman,et al.  Outcome of depression in later life in primary care: longitudinal cohort study with three years’ follow-up , 2009, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[25]  H. Chertkow,et al.  A predictive depression pattern in mild cognitive impairment , 2008, International journal of geriatric psychiatry.

[26]  Y. Conwell,et al.  Outcomes and predictors of late-life depression trajectories in older primary care patients. , 2008, The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.

[27]  Magda Tsolaki,et al.  Prevalence of depressive symptoms and syndromes in later life in ten European countries , 2007, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[28]  K. Markides,et al.  Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Change in Older Mexican Americans , 2007, Journal of geriatric psychiatry and neurology.

[29]  Carole Dufouil,et al.  Depressive symptoms and cognitive decline in elderly people. Longitudinal study. , 2002, The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science.

[30]  D. Bennett,et al.  Depressive symptoms, cognitive decline, and risk of AD in older persons , 2002, Neurology.

[31]  E. Heikkinen,et al.  Changes in health, functional performance and activity predict changes in self-rated health: a 10-year follow-up study in older people. , 2002, Archives of gerontology and geriatrics.

[32]  Roberta F. White,et al.  The preclinical phase of alzheimer disease: A 22-year prospective study of the Framingham Cohort. , 2000, Archives of neurology.

[33]  Anthony F Jorm,et al.  Is depression a risk factor for dementia or cognitive decline? , 2000, Neurobiology of Aging.

[34]  C. Turvey,et al.  A Revised CES-D Measure of Depressive Symptoms and a DSM-Based Measure of Major Depressive Episodes in the Elderly , 1999, International Psychogeriatrics.

[35]  R Fuhrer,et al.  Development of the EURO–D scale – a European Union initiative to compare symptoms of depression in 14 European centres , 1999, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[36]  A. Beekman,et al.  Depression symptoms in late life assessed using the EURO–D scale , 1999, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[37]  H. Christensen,et al.  A quantitative review of cognitive deficits in depression and Alzheimer-type dementia , 1997, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

[38]  J. Kaye,et al.  Cognitive Markers Preceding Alzheimer's Dementia in the Healthy Oldest Old , 1997, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[39]  Y. Benyamini,et al.  Self-rated health and mortality: a review of twenty-seven community studies. , 1997, Journal of health and social behavior.

[40]  J. Dartigues,et al.  Longitudinal analysis of the association between depressive symptomatology and cognitive deterioration. , 1996, American journal of epidemiology.

[41]  R. Littell.  SAS System for Mixed Models , 1996 .

[42]  P. Barberger‐Gateau,et al.  Depressive symptomatology and cognitive functioning: an epidemiological survey in an elderly community sample in France , 1992, Psychological Medicine.

[43]  L R White,et al.  Correlates of cognitive function in an elderly community population. , 1988, American journal of epidemiology.

[44]  J. Copeland,et al.  A computerized psychiatric diagnostic system and case nomenclature for elderly subjects: GMS and AGECAT , 1986, Psychological Medicine.

[45]  J. Ware,et al.  Random-effects models for longitudinal data. , 1982, Biometrics.

[46]  L. Radloff.  The CES-D Scale , 1977 .

[47]  Thorsten Gerber,et al.  Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis Modeling Change And Event Occurrence , 2016 .

[48]  M. Sliwinski,et al.  Design and Analysis of Longitudinal Studies on Aging , 2006 .

[49]  J. Singer,et al.  Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis , 2003 .

[50]  F. Carp.  Handbook of the psychology of aging. , 1977 .