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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 16:109-115, February 2008
© 2008 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
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Article

Cognitive Performance in Suicidal Depressed Elderly: Preliminary Report

Alexandre Y. Dombrovski, M.D., Meryl A. Butters, Ph.D., Charles F. Reynolds III, M.D., Patricia R. Houck, M.S., Luke Clark, Ph.D., Sati Mazumdar, Ph.D., and Katalin Szanto, M.D.

From the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine (AYD, MAB, CFR, PRH, KS) and the School of Public Health (CFR, SM), University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA; and the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom (LC).

Objective: Deficits in executive functions may play an important role in late-life suicide; however the association is understudied. This study examined cognitive function in general and executive functioning specifically in depressed elderly with and without suicidal ideation and attempts.

Design: Case-control study.

Setting: University-affiliated psychiatric hospital.

Participants: We compared 32 suicidal depressed participants aged 60 and older with 32 non-suicidal depressed participants equated for age, education, and gender.

Measurements: We assessed global cognitive function and executive function with the Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) and the Executive Interview (EXIT25), respectively.

Results: Suicidal and non-suicidal depressed groups were comparable in terms of severity of depression and burden of physical illness. Suicidal participants performed worse on the EXIT25, and on the DRS total scale, as well as on Memory and Attention subscales. The differences were not explained by the presence of dementia, substance use, medication exposure, or brain injury from suicide attempts.

Conclusions: Poor performance on tests of executive function, attention, and memory is associated with suicidal behavior in late-life depression.

Key Words: Suicide • attempted • cognition • adaptation • psychological • frontal lobe • prefrontal cortex • depressive disorder • aged






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