Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms and Memory Function and Their Correlation in Late Life by Gender

Objectives
To describe the trajectory of memory function and depression, and their correlation, while making gender as a predictor.

Design
Nationally representative longitudinal study of older adults in the United States.

Setting
2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014 Health and Retirement Study.

Participants
Community-dwelling adults who were 65 or older in the 2008 wave.

Measurement
Depressive level and episodic memory function.

Results
In terms of memory, the baseline score of males in 2008 was 9.209, and the slope from 2008 to 2014 was −0.205 (p < 0.001). Among females, the baseline score was 10.234, and the slope from 2008 to 2014 was −0.240 (p < 0.001). In terms of depression, the intercept of males was 0.113 (p < 0.001), while the intercept of females was 0.166 (p < 0.001). The slope of both males and females was 0.004 (p < 0.001). For both males and females, the initial level of memory and initial level of depression were significantly and negatively correlated with each other (r = −0.3 −0.3, p < 0.001 in both cases). Also, for both males and females, the initial depressive level and slope of memory function were significantly and negatively correlated with each other (r = −0.2 −0.1, p = 0.01 0.02).

Conclusion
Males and females’ trajectories of change in memory function and depression were significantly different in initial status (females had significantly higher level of both memory function and depression), and the slopes of memory function were also significantly different (females’ memory function decreased significantly faster than males). For women, their faster decrease in memory function could be partly attributed to their higher level of initial status of depression.