title: Cognitive deficits and the course of major depression in a cohort of middle-aged and older community-dwelling adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine associations between cognitive deficits and persistent significant depressive symptoms at baseline and 2- and 4-year follow-ups in a sample of community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A U.S. national prospective cohort study of middle-aged and older adults, the Health and Retirement Study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 661 participants of the 1996 wave of the Health and Retirement Study who met criteria for 12-month Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised major depression (MD).
  
  
  METHODS
  MD was assessed using the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form. Persistent significant depressive symptoms were assessed using an eight-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cognitive deficits were associated with persistent significant depressive symptoms at follow-up. In a latent state-trait analysis, two stable and strongly correlated traits best explained variations in cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms across assessment points.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Trait-like cognitive deficits commonly complicate the course of MD in community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults and may help to explain the persistent course of depressive symptoms in a large subgroup of adults with MD in this age range.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. rm322@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mojtabai
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Olfson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology