Profiles of centenarians' functioning: linking functional and cognitive capacity with depressive symptoms

• Published in: BMC geriatrics Vol. 24; no. 1; p. 451
• Main Authors: Uittenhove, Kim, Lampraki, Charikleia, da Rocha, Carla Gomes, Rott, Christoph, von Gunten, Armin, Jopp, Daniela S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 23.05.2024; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Activities of Daily Living - psychology; Age; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Centenarians; Cognition; Cognition - physiology; Cognitive ability; Cognitive capacity; Depression - diagnosis; Depression - epidemiology; Depression - psychology; Depression, Mental; Depressive symptoms; Female; Functional capacity; Functional Status; Geriatric Assessment - methods; Geriatrics; Germany - epidemiology; Gerontology; Humans; Male; Mental depression; Mental health; Older people; Oldest old people; Pain; Physiological aspects; Psychological aspects; Risk factors; Germany; Switzerland; Depressive symptoms; Gerontology; Centenarians; Cognitive capacity; Functional capacity
• ISSN: 1471-2318; 1471-2318
• DOI: 10.1186/s12877-024-05036-8

Despite most centenarians facing age-related declines in functional and cognitive capacities, the severity of these declines varies among individuals, as does the maintenance of good mental health (e.g., depressive symptoms) despite these declines. This study aims to examine this heterogeneity in centenarians from the Second Heidelberg Centenarian Study, which collected data from 112 centenarians living in Germany. In our study, we focus on a subsample of 73 centenarians who provided self-reports for our measures of interest (M age = 100.4, SD age = 0.55). We examined correlations between functional capacity (i.e., PADL, IADL), cognitive capacity (i.e., MMSE), and depressive symptoms (i.e., GDS), and the existence of different profiles using hierarchical clustering. Higher functional capacity was related to higher cognitive capacity and to fewer depressive symptoms. Yet, higher cognitive capacity was associated with more depressive symptoms. Hierarchical clustering analysis elucidated this contradiction by identifying three profiles: low-capacity individuals (i.e., 24 individuals had low functional and cognitive capacities, with low depressive symptoms), high-capacity individuals (i.e., 33 individuals with high functional and cognitive capacities, with low depressive symptoms), and low-functional-high-cognitive-capacity individuals (i.e., 16 individuals showed low functional but high cognitive capacity, with high depressive symptoms). Our post-hoc analyses highlighted arthritis and pain as risk factors for functional dependence and depression. Our findings emphasize the importance of identifying centenarian subgroups with specific resource- and risk profiles to better address their needs, and of treating pain to improve functional capacity and mental health in centenarians.