Poor Memory and Depression in Older Adults: Results from the Study on global AGEing and adult health
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Date
2021
Authors
Judge, Tyra
DeLouize, Alicia
Snodgrass, Josh
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Worldwide, over 20% of older adults suffer from a mental health disorder. The most common mental health disorders are dementia and depression, affecting 5% and 7% of the world’s older adult population, respectively. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the two disorders, which leads to a misdiagnoses of early-stage dementia as depression. In our research, using the Study for global AGEing and adult health (SAGE), we found that poor memory predicted the presence of depression in every country except India. Poor self-rated memory predicted depression in China, Ghana, Mexico, and Russia (ORs = .42 to .62, ps <.001) and backward digit span or verbal recall predicted depression in China, Ghana, and South Africa (ORs = .43 to .49, ps < .01). Our results demonstrate a close association between poor memory and depression in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs). Here, we examine this and discuss its implications for the potential misdiagnosis of early-stage dementia globally.
Description
1 page.
Keywords
Depression, Memory, Dementia, SAGE