Relationship between depressive symptomatology and cognitive performance in older people

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the relationship of depressive symptoms with differentiated components of cognitive function in older adults using the Neuronorma.Co protocol. Methodology: We analyzed the cognitive performance of 144 adults, 58.3% women, with an average age of 68.1 ± 11.2 years. A factor analysis of main components was performed to identify independent factors of cognitive function. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to estimate the type and strength of association between depressive symptoms and neurocognitive performance components. Results: Seven differentiated components of cognitive performance were identified. In the multivariate analysis, interference control and language were affected by the total score on the Yesavage Geriatric Depression Scale. Conclusions: The presence and intensity of depressive symptoms is associated with a lower performance in tasks dependent on executive control.

Keywords

• cognitive functioning components
• geriatric depression
• neuropsychological evaluation