RELATIONSHIP OF COGNITIVE AND FUNCTIONAL IMPAIRMENT TO DEPRESSIVE FEATURES IN ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE AND OTHER DEMENTIAS

Patients with clinical diagnoses of Alzheimer's disease, vascular deme ntia, or undifferentiated dementia were rated on standardized measures of depression, cognitive impairment, and functional impairment. Logis tic regression was used to evaluate the relationship between functiona l or cognitive impairment, as well as their interaction, and depressiv e features in each group. This analysis revealed notable differences b y type of dementia. The results imply that the mechanisms underlying d epression in Alzheimer's disease may be different from those in vascul ar and other types of dementia. These results also provide indicators to the clinician for further evaluation of depression in different dem entia subtypes.