Cognitive performance of older adults with a low level of education with and without depression.

Ana Julia De Lima Bomfim,Rebeca Mendes De Paula Pessoa,Bianca Letícia Cavalmoretti Ferreira,Natália Mota De Souza Chagas,Lívio Rodrigues Leal,Marcos Hortes Nisihara Chagas

doi:10.1590/1980-57642021dn15-010013

Ana Julia De Lima Bomfim, Rebeca Mendes De Paula Pessoa + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-57642021dn15-010013

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Abstract

ABSTRACT.Major depression can develop in individuals aged 60 years or older and is commonly associated with cognitive decline in this population, especially the domains of working memory, attention, executive functions, and processing speed. Schooling is a protective factor with regard to cognitive decline.Objective:To compare the cognitive performance of community-dwelling older adults with a low level of schooling with and without major depression.Methods:A descriptive, analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted with 22 community-dwelling older adults with depression and 187 without depression. The following assessment tools were employed: Mini Mental Health Examination, Brief Cognitive Screening Battery, Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD), Digit Span Test (forward and backward), and an object similarity test.Results:No statistically significant differences were found between the groups with and without depression on any of the tests.Conclusions:This study demonstrated that there are no differences in the cognitive performance of older people with and without depression on neurocognitive tests commonly used in clinical practice. Future studies with different designs and methods as well as specific tests for older people with a low level of schooling could assist in the understanding of these relations and the mechanisms involved.

Highlights

Major depression can develop in individuals aged 60 years or older, among whom the prognosis is worse, the course of the disease is more persistent, and the relapse rate is higher in comparison to younger individuals; concomitant cognitive decline is often found in this population.[1,2]
This finding differs from data described in the majority of studies in the literature, as an association between depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment has been reported in both cross-sectional[4,5,30,31,32] and longitudinal[33,34] studies
On the basis of the findings, depression was considered a predictive factor for cognitive decline, and cognitive impairment was associated with an increased risk of depression

Summary

Introduction

Major depression can develop in individuals aged 60 years or older, among whom the prognosis is worse, the course of the disease is more persistent, and the relapse rate is higher in comparison to younger individuals; concomitant cognitive decline is often found in this population.[1,2] Approximately 30% of older adults with depression exhibit cognitive decline, especially in the domains of working memory, attention, executive functions, and processing speed.[2,3]. Concomitant depression and cognitive decline exert a negative impact on quality of life and functional capacity, along with an increase in the relapse rate of depression, a delayed response to treatment, and greater use of specialized services.[4] cognitive impairment can persist after effective treatment for depression.[5,6] Approximately 45% of patients with previous depression continue to exhibit significant cognitive impairment even after the treatment and remission of depressive symptoms.[7]. Social isolation, a low level of schooling, a poor socioeconomic status, and the occurrence of cardiovascular disease, such as hypertension, are risk factors shared by both depression and cognitive decline.[9,10]

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