title: Depression is associated with cognitive dysfunction in older adults with heart failure.
abstract: Persons with heart failure (HF) frequently exhibit cognitive impairment with deficits in attention and memory. Depression is common in HF though its possible contribution to cognitive impairment is unknown. Cognitive dysfunction and depression may share common mechanisms in HF, as both are associated with similar abnormalities on neuroimaging. A total of 116 participants with HF (68.53 ± 9.30 years) completed a neuropsychological battery and self-report measures of depression. Regression models showed depression incrementally and independently predicted test performance in all cognitive domains. Follow-up partial correlations revealed that greater depressive symptoms were associated with poorer performance on tests of attention, executive function, psychomotor speed, and language. These results indicate that depressive symptoms are associated with poorer cognitive performance in HF though further work is needed to clarify mechanisms for this association and possible cognitive benefits of treating depression in persons with HF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Kent State University, 221 Kent Hall Addition, Kent, OH 44242, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Mary Beth
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Spitznagel
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Naftali
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Raz
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sweet
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Colbert
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Josephson
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosneck
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gunstad