Anxiety as a Risk Factor for Cognitive Decline: A 12-Year Follow-Up Cohort Study.
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry
; 27(1): 42-52, 2019 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30409551
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Anxiety might be a risk factor for cognitive decline, but previous studies had short follow-up or small sample sizes or studied general or single cognitive domain functioning.METHODS:
Anxiety symptoms were assessed with the Symptom Checklist-90 in 918 participants of the Maastricht Aging Study aged 50 years or older. Anxiety was analyzed both dichotomously (highest versus lower quartiles as a group) and continuously. Neuropsychological tests measured executive function, memory, speed of information processing, and verbal fluency. Linear mixed models were conducted with anxiety symptoms as predictor and change in cognitive scores as outcome. Differences of associations by age and gender were studied with three-way interactions.RESULTS:
Higher anxiety symptoms were significantly associated with more decline in verbal memory in those aged 65 years and older (delayed recall χ2â¯=â¯9.30, dfâ¯=â¯2, pâ¯=â¯0.01; immediate recall χ2â¯=â¯11.81, dfâ¯=â¯2, pâ¯=â¯0.003). There were sex differences in executive function (χ2â¯=â¯6.63, dfâ¯=â¯2, pâ¯=â¯0.036), fluency (χ2â¯=â¯6.89, dfâ¯=â¯2, pâ¯=â¯0.032), and processing speed (χ2â¯=â¯8.83, dfâ¯=â¯2, pâ¯=â¯0.012), with lower performance in women over time.CONCLUSION:
In participants without cognitive impairments at baseline, anxiety symptoms were associated with a decline in verbal memory in older adults and with poorer performance in nonamnestic domains in women. Adequate treatment of anxiety symptoms could have a beneficial influence on the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases. Further research is needed to elucidate whether this association is causal.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ansiedade
/
Envelhecimento
/
Função Executiva
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Disfunção Cognitiva
/
Transtornos da Memória
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Aged
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Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2019
Tipo de documento:
Article