Causal associations between depression symptoms and cognition in a community-based cohort of older adults

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the temporal association between depression symptoms and cognitive function in older adults over a 4-year period. Methods Using a longitudinal, cross-lagged, population-based design, we studied depression symptoms and cognitive domains (including processing speed, verbal fluency, face and word recognition, episodic memory, and simple and choice reaction time) in 896 community-dwelling adults aged 70-97 years. Results Cross-lagged structural equation models suggested that initial depression symptoms affected subsequent processing speed and simple and choice reaction time but that cognition did not predict depression symptoms over time. The associations between depression..