Cardiometabolic dysregulation and cognitive decline: potential role of depressive symptoms

• Published in: British journal of psychiatry Vol. 212; no. 2; pp. 96 - 102
• Main Authors: Schmitz, Norbert, Deschênes, Sonya S., Burns, Rachel J., Danna, Sofia M., Franco, Oscar H., Ikram, M. Arfan, Kivimäki, Mika, Singh-Manoux, Archana, Tiemeier, Henning
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01-02-2018
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Alzheimer's disease; Cognitive ability; Cognitive Dysfunction - epidemiology; Cognitive impairment; Cohort analysis; Cohort Studies; Comorbidity; Data processing; Dementia; Depression - epidemiology; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - epidemiology; Education; Female; Humans; Hypertension - epidemiology; Inflammation - blood; Inflammation - epidemiology; Male; Mental depression; Metabolic syndrome; Metabolic Syndrome - blood; Metabolic Syndrome - epidemiology; Middle Aged; Netherlands - epidemiology; Obesity; Obesity - epidemiology; Psychiatry; Questionnaires; Studies; Systematic review; United Kingdom - epidemiology; United Kingdom; Netherlands
• ISSN: 0007-1250; 1472-1465
• DOI: 10.1192/bjp.2017.26

Previous studies have examined associations of cardiometabolic factors with depression and cognition separately. Aims To determine if depressive symptoms mediate the association between cardiometabolic factors and cognitive decline in two community studies.
Data for the analyses were drawn from the Rotterdam Study, the Netherlands (n = 2940) and the Whitehall II study, UK (n = 4469).
Mediation analyses suggested a direct association between cardiometabolic factors and cognitive decline and an indirect association through depression: poorer cardiometabolic status at time 1 was associated with a higher level of depressive symptoms at time 2 (standardised regression coefficient 0.07 and 0.06, respectively), which, in turn, was associated with greater cognitive decline between time 2 and time 3 (standardised regression coefficient of -0.15 and -0.41, respectively).
Evidence from two independent cohort studies suggest an association between cardiometabolic dysregulation and cognitive decline and that depressive symptoms tend to precede this decline. Declaration of interest None.