Prevalence and Covariates of Elevated Depressive Symptoms in Rural Memory Clinic Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment or Dementia

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To estimate the prevalence, severity, and covariates of depressive symptoms in rural memory clinic patients diagnosed with either mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study of 216 rural individuals who attended an interdisciplinary memory clinic between March 2004 and July 2012, 51 patients were diagnosed with MCI and 165 with either dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) or non-AD dementia. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies of Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to estimate the severity and prevalence of clinically elevated depressive symptomatology. RESULTS: The prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms was 51.0% in the MCI patients and 30.9% in the dementia patients. Depressive symptoms were more severe in the MCI patients than in the dementia patients. Elevated depressive symptoms were statistically associated with younger age for the MCI group, with lower self-rated memory for the dementia group, and with increased alcohol use and lower quality of life ratings for all patients. In the logistic regression models, elevated depressive symptoms remained negatively associated with self-rated memory and quality of life for the patients with dementia, but significant bivariate associations did not persist in the MCI group. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence and severity of depressive symptoms among rural memory clinic patients diagnosed with either MCI or dementia warrant continued investigation.