The Relationship Between Depression and Cognitive Deterioration in Elderly Persons

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this research is to describe the relationship between depressive disorder and cognitive deterioration in residentialized elderly people. This is a descriptive and correlational study with 70 elderly. The variables have been assessed with a Psychosocial Variables Questionnaire, CAMCOG and GDS. Depression was significantly correlated with cognitive level in the non-assisted elderly sample (r=0.471, p=0.004). Participants’ age is negatively associated with the score obtained in the CAMCOG of non-assisted sample (r=-0.352, p=0.038). Depression is more frequent in institutions that care for older people when they are more dependent.

Keywords

• depression
• cognitive decline
• prevalence
• psychosocial factors
• cross-sectional study