Long-term patterns of depressive symptoms and cognitive aging in middle-aged and older adults - PubMed

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The study analyzes 7,211 participants from CHARLS to examine the link between long-term depressive symptom patterns and cognitive aging in middle-aged and older adults.
Depressive symptoms were categorized into four patterns: never depressed, early-remission, late-onset, and persistent/recurrent, based on CES-D-10 scores from 2011 to 2015.
Late-onset and persistent/recurrent depressive symptom patterns were associated with lower episodic memory and orientation in 2018, while early-remission showed weaker links.
Associations were stronger among women and individuals with lower educational attainment.
An exploratory pathway analysis suggests that lower grip strength and greater sleep disturbance partly explain (16.9%) the association between persistent/recurrent depressive symptoms and episodic memory.
Directional analyses indicate a bidirectional relationship between depressive symptoms and episodic memory, and findings were externally validated using HRS data.
The study emphasizes the importance of long-term monitoring of depressive symptom patterns, along with attention to physical function and sleep health, to identify those at higher risk of cognitive decline.

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