Depressive Symptoms, Vascular Disease, and Mild Cognitive Impairment

Abstract

Depressive symptoms are common in dementia and occur in approximately 30% of patients with dementia.¹ Investigators conducting longitudinal studies^2-8 have found that older persons with depressive symptoms have increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia, and the author of a meta-analysis⁹ concluded that the risk of dementia is approximately doubled in older adults with depressive symptoms. However, it remains controversial whether depressive symptoms represent a risk factor for dementia, whether they are an early symptom of neurodegeneration, or whether they are a reaction to early cognitive deficits. For example, some studies have suggested that depressive symptoms appear to coincide with¹⁰ or follow^11,12 the onset of dementia rather than precede it.