Late-onset depression predicts cognitive impairment and subsequent dementia among older adults with major depressive disorder: findings from UK Biobank and primary care linked data | Synapse
March 12, 2026Open Access
Late-onset depression predicts cognitive impairment and subsequent dementia among older adults with major depressive disorder: findings from UK Biobank and primary care linked data
Key Points
The research aims to explore the relationship between late-onset depression and cognitive impairment, particularly dementia, in older adults.
Analyzed data from UK Biobank and primary care records
Compared cognitive impairment levels in individuals with late-onset depression versus those without
Assessed incidence of dementia among participants with late-onset depression
Late-onset depression was linked to more severe fluid intelligence impairment
Increased rates of incident dementia were found in those with late-onset depression compared to depression-free individuals
Abstract
Late-onset depression showed more severe impairment in fluid intelligence compared with LLD-EO. Late-onset depression was associated with increased incident dementia compared with depression-free individuals.