J Korean Geriatr Psychiatry.  2017 Oct;21(2):55-58. 10.0000/jkgp.2017.21.2.55.

Hypertension is Associated with Depressive Symptoms in Alzheimer's Disease

• Kim KD
• Lee SY
• Lee HK
• Lee KU
• Kweon YS
• Lee CT

• KMID: 2395656
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.0000/jkgp.2017.21.2.55

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To explore the effect of vascular risk factors to the depressive symptom in Alzheimer's disease (AD).
METHODS
Retrospective chart reviews were performed for the patients, who underwent comprehensive neuropsychiatric assessment in the geriatric psychiatric clinic in the period between May of 2015 and January of 2017. Patients with moderate to severe stage of AD, neurological comorbidities and major psychiatric disorders were excluded to minimize the confounding factors. Sixty five newly diagnosed early AD patients were included and bisected by the cutoff point of 5 in the short version of the Geriatric Depression Scale. Comparisons were done between two groups for vascular risk factors and other relevant clinic-demographic variables. Binary logistic regression analysis was additionally performed to estimate the effect of hypertension to the depressive symptoms.
RESULTS
Among the investigated vascular risk factors, hypertension was associated with depressive symptom in the early AD patients. In the logistic regression, odd ratio of hypertension for depression was 4.34 (95% confidence interval 1.47-12.79).
CONCLUSION
Depressive symptoms in the AD patients were associated with hypertension. Therefore, managing this vascular factor in the middle age may not only decrease the risk for neurovascular disorders, but also provide additional benefits in curtailing depression in AD.

Keyword

Vascular risk factor; Hypertension; Alzheimer's disease; Depression; Neurocognitive disorder

MeSH Terms

Alzheimer Disease*
Comorbidity
Depression*
Humans
Hypertension*
Logistic Models
Middle Aged
Neurocognitive Disorders
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors