Faculty Articles
Family history of dementia and current depression in nondemented community-dwelling older adults.
Publication Title
Journal of geriatric psychiatry and neurology
Publisher
Sage Publications
ISSN
0891-9887
Publication Date
1-1-2000
Keywords
Aged, Cross-Sectional Studies, Dementia, Demography, Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, Male, Mood Disorders
Abstract
Since it has been postulated that mood disturbance in nondemented older adults may represent a prodromal feature of dementia for a subgroup of patients, it would be expected that patients with these symptoms would evidence a greater prevalence of family history of dementia. In a sample of 3225 community-dwelling cognitively intact elderly recruited from a free memory-screening program, we found that current depression was more common in participants with a positive versus a negative family history of dementia in first-degree relatives (17% versus 11%; Fisher's Exact Test, P < .0001). This relationship remained significant after controlling for age, education, gender, ethnicity, and Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination score (OR = 1.5; 95% CI = 1.2-1.9, Wald X2 = 15.5, P < .001). The results suggest that symptoms of depression may herald the onset of an incipient dementia syndrome in a subset of geriatric patients. Alternatively, the results may be indicative of familial aggregation of dementia and depression.
Volume
13
Issue
2
First Page
65
Last Page
71
Disciplines
Medical Specialties | Medicine and Health Sciences | Osteopathic Medicine and Osteopathy
NSUWorks Citation
Harwood, Dylan G.; Barker, Warren W.; Ownby, Raymond L.; Mullan, Michael J.; and Duara, Ranjan, "Family history of dementia and current depression in nondemented community-dwelling older adults." (2000). Faculty Articles. 59.
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_com_faculty_articles/59
