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. 2020 Mar;32(3-4):189-198.
doi: 10.1177/0898264318813019. Epub 2018 Nov 23.

Memory Decline and Depression Onset in U.S. and European Older Adults

Rebecca Bendayan  1   2 , Amanda Kelly  3 , Scott M Hofer  3 , Andrea M Piccinin  3 , Graciela Muniz-Terrera  4
Affiliations

Memory Decline and Depression Onset in U.S. and European Older Adults

Rebecca Bendayan et al. J Aging Health. 2020 Mar.

Abstract

Objectives: We explore the association between different patterns of change in depressive symptoms and memory trajectories in US and European Mediterranean (Spain, France, Italy, and Israel) and non-Mediterranean (Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria) older adults. Methods: Samples consisted of 3,466 participants from the Health Retirement Study (HRS) and 3,940 participants from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement (SHARE). Individuals were grouped as follows: non-case depression (NO DEP), persistent depression (DEP), depression onset (ONSET), depression recovery (RECOV), and fluctuating (FLUCT). Memory was measured using immediate and delayed recall tests. Linear mixed models were used. Results: DEP and RECOV had significantly lower baseline memory scores compared to NO DEP, at intercept level. At slope level, ONSET had a significantly faster decline in both tasks compared to NO DEP. Discussion: Cross-cohort robust and consistent new empirical evidence on the association between depression onset and faster decline in memory scores is provided.

Keywords: HRS; SHARE; cognitive decline; depressive symptoms; replication.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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