Association Between Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Impairment in Patients Over 75 years of Age in the High Andean Communities of Peru

Objective: To determine the association between depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment in patients over 75 years of age in the High Andean communities of Peru. Patients and methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted. The sample consisted of 181 older adults. The Yesavage Test was used for depression screening (5-item version), and the Pfeiffer questionnaire was used for cognitive impairment screening. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to determine the association between variables with a 95% confidence level. The analyses were performed using STATA 16. Results: About 63.54% were female, with an average age of 79.52 ± 4.21 years. About 43.6% showed cognitive impairment, of which 29.8% were mild and 13.26% were moderate. An association was found between depression and cognitive impairment (p < .001; aPR = 4.70, 95% CI [2.25, 9.79]). Conclusion: There is an association between depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment in older adults from high Andean communities in Peru.