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Late-life depression, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia: possible continuum?
Panza F, Frisardi V, Capurso C, D'Introno A, Colacicco AM, Imbimbo BP, Santamato A, Vendemiale G et al.. The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 2010-02-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Clinical and epidemiologic research has focused on the identification of risk factors that may be modified in predementia syndromes, at a preclinical and early clinical stage of dementing disorders, with specific attention to the role of depression. Our goal was to provide an overview of these studies and more specifically to describe the prevalence and incidence of depression in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), the possible impact of depressive symptoms on incident MCI, or its progression to dementia and the possible mechanisms behind the observed associations. Prevalence and incidence of depressive symptoms or syndromes in MCI vary as a result of different diagnostic criteria and different sampling and assessment procedures. The prevalence of depression in individuals with MCI was higher in hospital-based studies (median: 44.3%, range: 9%-83%) than in population-based studies (median: 15.7%, range: 3%-63%), reflecting different referral patterns and selection criteria. Incidence of depressive symptoms varied from 11.7 to 26.6/100 person-years in hospital-based and population-based studies. For depressed normal subjects and depressed patients with MCI, the findings on increased risk of incident MCI or its progression to dementia were conflicting. These contrasting findings suggested that the length of the follow-up period, the study design, the sample population, and methodological differences may be central for detecting an association between baseline depression and subsequent development of MCI or its progression to dementia. Assuming that MCI may be the earliest identifiable clinical stage of dementia, depressive symptoms may be an early manifestation rather than a risk factor for dementia and Alzheimer disease, arguing that the underlying neuropathological condition that causes MCI or dementia also causes depressive symptoms. In this scenario, at least in certain subsets of elderly patients, late-life depression, MCI, and dementia could represent a possible clinical continuum.
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APA 7th
Panza, F., Frisardi, V., Capurso, C., D'Introno, A., Colacicco, A. M., Imbimbo, B. P., et al. (2010). Late-life depression, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia: possible continuum? The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1097/jgp.0b013e3181b0fa13
Vancouver
Panza F, Frisardi V, Capurso C, D'Introno A, Colacicco AM, Imbimbo BP, et al. Late-life depression, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia: possible continuum? The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. 2010. doi:10.1097/jgp.0b013e3181b0fa13. PMID: 20104067.
BibTeX
@article{panza2010-20104067,
author = {Panza, F. and Frisardi, V. and Capurso, C. and D'Introno, A. and Colacicco, A. M. and Imbimbo, B. P. and Santamato, A. and Vendemiale, G. and others},
title = {{Late-life depression, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia: possible continuum?}},
journal = {The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1097/jgp.0b013e3181b0fa13},
pmid = {20104067},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1097/jgp.0b013e3181b0fa13}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Prevalence and incidence of depressive symptoms or syndromes in MCI vary as a result of different diagnostic criteria and different sampling and assessment procedures.
- For depressed normal subjects and depressed patients with MCI, the findings on increased risk of incident MCI or its progression to dementia were conflicting.
- These contrasting findings suggested that the length of the follow-up period, the study design, the sample population, and methodological differences may be central for detecting an association between baseline depression and subsequent development of MCI or its progression to dementia.
Why it matters
This overview found that the prevalence of depression in people with mild cognitive impairment varied widely and that findings on whether depression raises the risk of cognitive decline or progression to dementia were conflicting. It does not test any treatment, cure or prevention.
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Study details
- Effect size44.3%; 15.7%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 51/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry: journal h-index 178 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2010 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 615 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 34.2 citations a year over 18 year(s) since 2010 |
| Impact for its field and year | 5 / 6 | Cited 26.6× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 20 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 62 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Vincenzo Solfrizzi: h-index 74 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | University of Bari Aldo Moro: institution h-index 586 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 4 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 20104067) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 51 / 100 | — |
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