Anxious symptoms and cognitive function in non‐demented older adults: an inverse relationship

Ashley N Stillman; Kelly C Rowe; Stephan Arndt; David J Moser

doi:10.1002/gps.2785

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Anxious symptoms and cognitive function in non‐demented older adults: an inverse relationship

Journal article

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Anxious symptoms and cognitive function in non‐demented older adults: an inverse relationship

Ashley N Stillman, Kelly C Rowe, Stephan Arndt and David J Moser

International journal of geriatric psychiatry, Vol.27(8), pp.792-798

08/2012

DOI: 10.1002/gps.2785

PMID: 21919061

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/3391343View

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Abstract

Background The goals of this study were to determine the relationship between anxious symptoms and cognitive functioning in a non‐demented, community‐dwelling older adults sample (n = 48), and to determine the effect of depressive symptoms upon this relationship. Methods Anxious and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Symptom Checklist 90—Revised. Cognitive functioning was assessed with the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status. Results Results indicated that although both cognitive functioning and anxious symptoms were within normal limits in this sample, anxious symptoms showed a significant, inverse relationship with global cognitive function [r(47) = −0.400, p = 0.005]. In addition, specific relationships were noted between severity of anxious symptoms and visuospatial/constructional ability as well as immediate and delayed memory. With regard to the secondary objective, both anxiety and depressive symptoms together accounted for the highest level of variance [R2 = 0.175, F(2, 45) = 4.786, p = 0.013] compared with anxiety [R2(47) = 0.160, p = 0.005] and depression [R2(47) = 0.106, p = 0.024] alone. Nevertheless, neither anxious nor depressive symptoms emerged as a unique correlate with cognitive ability [r(47) = −0.278, p = 0.058; r(48) = −0.136, p = 0.363, respectively]. Conclusion This study demonstrates that subthreshold anxiety symptoms and cognitive functioning are significantly related even among generally healthy older adults whose cognitive ability and severity of anxious symptoms are within broad normal limits. These findings have implications both for clinical care of older patients, as well as for cognitive research studies utilizing this population. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

cognitive function

older adults

anxiety

Details

Title: Subtitle: Anxious symptoms and cognitive function in non‐demented older adults: an inverse relationship
Creators: Ashley N Stillman - University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Kelly C Rowe - University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Stephan Arndt - University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
David J Moser - University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: International journal of geriatric psychiatry, Vol.27(8), pp.792-798
DOI: 10.1002/gps.2785
PMID: 21919061
NLM abbreviation: Int J Geriatr Psychiatry
ISSN: 0885-6230
eISSN: 1099-1166
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; Chichester, UK
Number of pages: 7
Language: English
Date published: 08/2012
Academic Unit: Psychiatry; Biostatistics; Nursing; Injury Prevention Research Center; Medicine Administration
Record Identifier: 9984003485002771

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