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Cognitive Deficits and the Course of Major Depression in a Cohort of Middle‐Aged and Older Community‐Dwelling Adults
Author(s) -
Mojtabai Ramin,
Olfson Mark
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2004.52302.x
Subject(s) - medicine , depression (economics) , cohort , center for epidemiologic studies depression scale , cohort study , prospective cohort study , cognition , gerontology , psychiatry , longitudinal study , epidemiology , cognitive skill , cognitive decline , mental health , clinical psychology , depressive symptoms , dementia , disease , pathology , economics , macroeconomics
Objectives: To examine associations between cognitive deficits and persistent significant depressive symptoms at baseline and 2‐ and 4‐year follow‐ups in a sample of community‐dwelling middle‐aged and older adults. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: A U.S. national prospective cohort study of middle‐aged and older adults, the Health and Retirement Study. Participants: A sample of 661 participants of the 1996 wave of the Health and Retirement Study who met criteria for 12‐month Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised major depression (MD). Measurements: MD was assessed using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview—Short Form. Persistent significant depressive symptoms were assessed using an eight‐item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale. Results: Cognitive deficits were associated with persistent significant depressive symptoms at follow‐up. In a latent state‐trait analysis, two stable and strongly correlated traits best explained variations in cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms across assessment points. Conclusion: Trait‐like cognitive deficits commonly complicate the course of MD in community‐dwelling middle‐aged and older adults and may help to explain the persistent course of depressive symptoms in a large subgroup of adults with MD in this age range.