Relationship Between Cerebrovascular Risk, Cognition, and Treatment Outcome in Late-Life Psychotic Depression

To examine whether cerebrovascular risk, executive function, and processing speed are associated with acute treatment outcome of psychotic depression in older adults.

The authors analyzed data from 142 persons aged 60 years or older with major depression with psychotic features who participated in a 12-week randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing olanzapine plus sertraline with olanzapine plus placebo. The independent variables were baseline cerebrovascular risk (Framingham Stroke Risk Score), baseline executive function (Stroop interference score and the initiation/perseveration subscale of the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale), and baseline processing speed (color and word reading components of the Stroop). The outcome variable was change in severity of depression, measured by the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale total score, during the course of the RCT.

Greater baseline cerebrovascular risk was significantly associated with less improvement in depression severity over time, after controlling for pertinent covariates. Neither executive function nor processing speed predicted outcome.

This study suggests an association of cerebrovascular risk, but not executive function or processing speed, with treatment outcome of major depression with psychotic features in older adults.