The aging of the population is a universal phenomenon with direct consequences
upon the public health system. One of the main repercussions of the growth in
this sector of the population is the increased prevalence of disorders such as
dementia and depression which are very frequent among the elderly. The
relationship between cardiovascular risk factors, dementia and depression have
been addressed in many recent investigations.ObjectivesTo evaluate the relationship of cognitive performance and depressive symptoms
with cardiovascular risk in the elderly.Methods94 high cardiovascular risk elderly patients and 160 healthy community
elderly were evaluated cross-sectionally. The Mini Mental State Examination
(MMSE) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) were used as the main
measures. The cutoff for presence of depression was 6 on the GDS.ResultsThe high cardiovascular risk elderly group showed significantly lower scores
on the MMSE (p<0.001) and was significantly associated to depression
(p<0.001), independently of education. The logistic regression analysis
for depression as the dependent variable, age and group (healthy community
or high cardiovascular risk elderly) were kept in the final equation. Higher
age (Odds Ratio=0.92; 95% CI 0.86–0.98) and high cardiovascular risk elderly
(OR=2.99; 95% CI 1.36–6.59) were associated to depression.ConclusionsThe present findings corroborate the different cognitive performance of
elderly with high cardiovascular risk factors and the association of
depressive symptoms with this group.
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