Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Cognitive improvement following treatment in late-life depression: relationship to vascular risk and age of onset.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Barch, DM; DʼAngelo, G; Pieper, C; Wilkins, CH; Welsh-Bohmer, K; Taylor, W; Garcia, KS; Gersing, K; Doraiswamy, PM; Sheline, YI
Published in: Am J Geriatr Psychiatry
August 2012

OBJECTIVES: To test the hypothesis that the degree of vascular burden and/or age of onset may influence the degree to which cognition can improve during the course of treatment in late-life depression. DESIGN: Measurement of cognition both before and following 12 weeks of treatment with sertraline. SETTING: University medical centers (Washington University and Duke University). PARTICIPANTS: One hundred sixty-six individuals with late-life depression. INTERVENTION: Sertraline treatment. MEASUREMENTS: The cognitive tasks were grouped into five domains (language, processing speed, working memory, episodic memory, and executive function). We measured vascular risk using the Framingham Stroke Risk Profile measure. We measured T2-based white matter hyperintensities using the Fazekas criteria. RESULTS: Both episodic memory and executive function demonstrated significant improvement among adults with late-life depression during treatment with sertraline. Importantly, older age, higher vascular risk scores, and lower baseline Mini-Mental State Examination scores predicted less change in working memory. Furthermore, older age, later age of onset, and higher vascular risk scores predicted less change in executive function. CONCLUSIONS: These results have important clinical implications in that they suggest that a regular assessment of vascular risk in older adults with depression is necessary as a component of treatment planning and in predicting prognosis, both for the course of the depression itself and for the cognitive impairments that often accompany depression in later life.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Am J Geriatr Psychiatry

DOI

EISSN

1545-7214

Publication Date

August 2012

Volume

20

Issue

8

Start / End Page

682 / 690

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Vascular Diseases
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Sertraline
  • Mental Status Schedule
  • Memory
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Geriatrics
  • Female
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Barch, D. M., DʼAngelo, G., Pieper, C., Wilkins, C. H., Welsh-Bohmer, K., Taylor, W., … Sheline, Y. I. (2012). Cognitive improvement following treatment in late-life depression: relationship to vascular risk and age of onset. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, 20(8), 682–690. https://doi.org/10.1097/JGP.0b013e318246b6cb
Barch, Deanna M., Gina DʼAngelo, Carl Pieper, Consuelo H. Wilkins, Kathleen Welsh-Bohmer, Warren Taylor, Keith S. Garcia, Kenneth Gersing, P Murali Doraiswamy, and Yvette I. Sheline. “Cognitive improvement following treatment in late-life depression: relationship to vascular risk and age of onset.Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 20, no. 8 (August 2012): 682–90. https://doi.org/10.1097/JGP.0b013e318246b6cb.
Barch DM, DʼAngelo G, Pieper C, Wilkins CH, Welsh-Bohmer K, Taylor W, et al. Cognitive improvement following treatment in late-life depression: relationship to vascular risk and age of onset. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2012 Aug;20(8):682–90.
Barch, Deanna M., et al. “Cognitive improvement following treatment in late-life depression: relationship to vascular risk and age of onset.Am J Geriatr Psychiatry, vol. 20, no. 8, Aug. 2012, pp. 682–90. Pubmed, doi:10.1097/JGP.0b013e318246b6cb.
Barch DM, DʼAngelo G, Pieper C, Wilkins CH, Welsh-Bohmer K, Taylor W, Garcia KS, Gersing K, Doraiswamy PM, Sheline YI. Cognitive improvement following treatment in late-life depression: relationship to vascular risk and age of onset. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2012 Aug;20(8):682–690.
Journal cover image

Published In

Am J Geriatr Psychiatry

DOI

EISSN

1545-7214

Publication Date

August 2012

Volume

20

Issue

8

Start / End Page

682 / 690

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Vascular Diseases
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Sertraline
  • Mental Status Schedule
  • Memory
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Geriatrics
  • Female