Anxiety and cognitive functioning in the Maastricht study: A cross-sectional population study

Abstract

Background: Higher anxiety levels in older adults are associated with worse executive functioning and an increased risk for dementia. In this study individual anxiety disorders and clinically relevant generalized anxiety symptoms are studied in relation to multiple cognitive domains.

Method: This cross-sectional study includes 7344 community-dwelling participants of The Maastricht Study aged 40-75 years and oversampling of type 2 diabetes. Panic disorder with and without agoraphobia, agoraphobia and lifetime panic disorder were measured with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Generalized anxiety symptoms were measured with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7). Multiple cognitive domains (executive functioning, memory and processing speed) and cognitive impairment were assessed. Multivariable linear and logistic regression analyses were used with adjustment for potential confounders. Interaction analyses were performed to test the moderation of age, sex and type 2 diabetes (due to oversampling).

Results: Agoraphobia was associated with worse scores on all cognitive domains (range B = -0.12 to -0.10; range 95%CI = -0.20 to -0.04) and with higher odds of cognitive impairment (OR = 1.51, 95%CI = 1.18-1.93). High scores on the GAD-7 were associated with worse scores on processing speed (B = -0.11, 95%CI = -0.20 to -0.03) and higher odds of cognitive impairment (OR = 1.42, 95%CI = 1.02-1.97). Panic disorder was significantly associated with worse scores on memory tasks (B = -0.25, 95%CI = -0.48 to -0.02). Associations were stronger in the younger participants and for agoraphobia and GAD-7 scores also in those with type 2 diabetes.

Conclusion: Multiple anxiety disorders and generalized anxiety symptoms were associated with worse cognitive functioning on several cognitive domains.

Keywords: Anxiety; Cognition; Executive function; Memory; Processing speed.