Association Between Neuropsychiatric Symptoms and Functional Change in Older Non-Demented Adults: Mayo Clinic Study of Aging

Article type: Short Communication

Authors: Krell-Roesch, Janina^{a; b} | Syrjanen, Jeremy A.^a | Mielke, Michelle M.^{a; c} | Christianson, Teresa J.^a | Kremers, Walter K.^a | Machulda, Mary M.^d | Knopman, David S.^c | Petersen, Ronald C.^{a; c} | Vassilaki, Maria^a | Geda, Yonas E.^{e; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA | [b] Institute of Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany | [c] Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA | [d] Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA | [e] Department of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Yonas E. Geda, MD, MSc, Department of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA. E-mail: Yonas.Geda@DignityHealth.org.

Abstract: We examined the associations between baseline neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) and longitudinal changes in functional performance among 5,394 non-demented individuals aged ≥50 years (2,729 males; median age 74.2 years; 4,716 cognitively unimpaired, 678 mild cognitive impairment). After adjusting for age, sex, education, and medical comorbidities, NPS assessed by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire, clinical depression (Beck Depression Inventory score ≥13) and anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory score ≥10) were significantly associated with an increase in the Functional Activities Questionnaire score, indicating functional decline over time. This association may vary depending on the degree of cognitive impairment at baseline.

Keywords: Anxiety, depression, functional performance

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-200764

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 78, no. 3, pp. 911-917, 2020