Major Depressive Symptoms Increase 3-Year Mortality Rate in Patients with Mild Dementia

Abstract

Depression and dementia are commonly concurrent and are both associated with increased mortality among older people. However, little is known about whether home-dwelling patients newly diagnosed with mild dementia coexisting with depressive symptoms have excess mortality. We conducted a post hoc analysis based on data from the Danish Alzheimer's Intervention Study of 330 individuals who were diagnosed with mild dementia within the past 12 months. Thirty-four patients were identified with major depressive symptoms (MD-S) at baseline. During the 3-year follow-up period, 56 patients died, and, among them, 12 were with MD-S at baseline. Multivariable analysis adjusting for the potential confounders (age, sex, smoking status, alcohol consumption, education, BMI, household status, MMSE, CCI, QoL-AD, NPIQ, ADSC-ADL, medication, and RCT allocation) showed that patients with MD-S had a 2.5-fold higher mortality as compared to the patients without or with only few depressive symptoms. Our result revealed that depression is possibly associated with increased mortality in patients with mild dementia. Given that depression is treatable, screening for depression and treatment of depression can be important already in the earliest stage of dementia to reduce mortality.

Hippocampal Neurogenesis Is Enhanced in Adult Tau Deficient Mice

“…Likewise, tau pathology strongly correlates with neuron death and severity of dementia while affecting brain regions in the limbic system [4,5], suggesting that tau is critically important in the progressive development of behavioral symptoms observed in AD. Symptoms of depression, in particular, are commonly co-morbid with AD and other neurodegenerative diseases [6], leading to more rapid decline and higher mortality [7,8]. However, it is not known if this is a direct consequence of neuropathological changes or a response to the psychological burden of dementia.…”

Diagnosed depression and sociodemographic factors as predictors of mortality in patients with dementia

“…4 However, evidence for an influence of depression on mortality in patients with dementia is inconclusive. A few studies report increased mortality rates in patients with dementia and depression, [5][6][7][8] but these are either small and might lack statistical power, 7,8 or use select populations unrepresentative of broader clinical care. 5,6 Many studies report no association between depression and mortality in patients with dementia, or only very weak evidence of an association.…”

“…A few studies report increased mortality rates in patients with dementia and depression, [5][6][7][8] but these are either small and might lack statistical power, 7,8 or use select populations unrepresentative of broader clinical care. 5,6 Many studies report no association between depression and mortality in patients with dementia, or only very weak evidence of an association. [9][10][11] Most studies also use screening measures based on individual depressive symptoms, rather than clinically verified diagnoses.…”

The Relationship Between Depression and Dementia in the Context of the Impact on Mortality Rates

“…В исследовании на датской популяции (DAISY) 330 пациентов с мягкой деменцией за трехлетний период наблюдения было выявлено, что при наличии у них большого депрессивного расстройства смертность была в два раза выше, чем у пациентов без депрессии [56].…”