The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · Mar 2010
Depressive symptoms predict incident cognitive impairment in cognitive healthy older women.
There is an increasing evidence that depressive symptoms are associated with the development of cognitive impairment and dementia in late life. The authors sought to examine whether depression increased the risk of incident cognitive impairment in a longitudinal study of older women. ⋯ These data suggest that depression may be the risk factors for cognitive decline, and thus a potential target for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · Mar 2010
Comparative StudyOutcomes of subsyndromal depression in older primary care patients.
Most older persons in primary care suffering clinically significant depressive symptoms do not meet criteria for major or minor depression. The authors tested the hypothesis that patients with subsyndromal depression (SSD) would have poorer psychiatric, medical, and functional outcomes at follow-up than nondepressed patients but not as poor as those with minor or major depression. The authors also explored the relative outcomes of three definitions of SSD to determine their relative prognostic value. ⋯ Clinicians should be vigilant in caring for patients with SSD, monitoring for persistent, or worsening depressive symptoms including suicidality, anxiety, cognitive impairment, and functional decline. Researchers may use particular SSD definitions to identify individuals at higher risk of poor outcomes, to better understand the relationships of SSD to functional disability, and to test innovative preventive and therapeutic interventions.