Family history of dementia and current depression in nondemented community-dwelling older adults

Since it has been postulated that mood disturbance in nondemented older adu lts may represent a prodromal feature of dementia for a subgroup of patient s, it would be expected that patients with these symptoms would evidence a greater prevalence of family history of dementia. In a sample of 3225 commu nity-dwelling cognitively intact elderly recruited from a free memory-scree ning program, we found that current depression was more common in participa nts with a positive versus a negative family history of dementia in first-d egree relatives (17% versus 11%; Fisher's Exact Test, P < .0001). This rela tionship remained significant after controlling for age, education, gender, ethnicity, and Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination score (OR = 1.5; 95% CI = 1.2-1.9, Wald chi(2) = 15.5, P < .001). The results suggest that symp toms of depression may herald the onset of an incipient dementia syndrome i n a subset of geriatric patients. Alternatively, the results may be indicat ive of familial aggregation of dementia and depression.