Depression as a risk factor for dementia and mild cognitive impairment: a meta-analysis of longitudinal studies

• Published in: International journal of geriatric psychiatry Vol. 28; no. 5; pp. 441 - 449
• Main Authors: Gao, Yuan, Huang, Changquan, Zhao, Kexiang, Ma, Louyan, Qiu, Xuan, Zhang, Lei, Xiu, Yun, Chen, Lin, Lu, Wei, Huang, Chunxia, Tang, Yong, Xiao, Qian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hove Psychology Press 01.05.2013; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Cognitive ability; Cognitive Dysfunction - psychology; Dementia; Dementia - psychology; Depression; Depressive Disorder - complications; Depressive Disorder - epidemiology; General aspects; Geriatric psychiatry; Geriatric psychology; Geriatrics; Humans; Incidence; Longitudinal Studies; Medical sciences; Mental depression; Meta-analysis; Mood disorders; Older people; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Risk Factors; Systematic review; Human; Mood disorder; Cognitive disorder; Evidence-based practice; meta-analysis; Depression; Review; Evidence-based medicine; Metaanalysis; Gerontology; Follow up study; Risk factor; Degenerative disease; mild cognitive impairment; Elderly; Psychiatry; Dementia; Geriatrics
• ISSN: 0885-6230; 1099-1166; 1099-1166
• DOI: 10.1002/gps.3845

This study examined whether depression was a risk factor for onset of dementia including Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia (VD) and any dementia, and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by using a quantitative meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. EMBASE and MEDLINE were searched for articles published up to February 2011. All studies that examined the relationship between depression and the onset of dementia or MCI were included. Pooled relative risk was calculated using fixed-effects models. Twelve studies met our inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis. All subjects were without dementia or MCI at baseline. Four, two, five, and four studies compared the incidence of AD, VD, any dementia, and MCI between subjects with or without depression, respectively. After pooling all the studies, subjects with depression had higher incidence of AD (relative risk (RR):1.66, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.29-2.14), VD (RR: 1.89, 95% CI: 1.19-3.01), any dementia (RR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.31-2.83), and MCI (RR: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.53-2.54) than those without depression. The quantitative meta-analysis showed that depression was a major risk factor for incidence of dementia (including AD, VD, and any dementia) and MCI.