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Clinical Laboratory Measures in Relation to Depression, Disability, and Cognitive Impairment in Elderly Patients

Received April 16, 1999; revised October 4, 1999; accepted February 2, 2000. From The University of Pennsylvania Health System, Department of Psychiatry, Section on Geriatric Psychiatry. Address correspondence to Dr. Katz, University of Pennsylvania, 3600 Market St., Room 758, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

To characterize the dimensions of physiological abnormalities that commonly occur in older individuals in a residential care setting and to evaluate their association with clinical measures, the authors conducted an exploratory factor analysis on clinical laboratory measures from a sample of 231 elderly residents (mean age: 86) living in a nursing home and congregate apartment facility. An eight-factor solution accounted for 70.2% of the variance in these measures; factors identified were interpreted as indices of renal function, protein/calorie/nutritional status, serum electrolytes/osmolarity, liver function, acute-phase processes, plasma lipids, acid/base status, and renal-tubular function. The nutritional factor was significantly associated with measures of disability and the presence of depression. The acute-phase processes factor was significantly associated with cognitive impairment.

Key Words: Laboratory Measures • Depression • Cognitive Impairment