Cognitive impairment in late-life depression: clinical correlates and treatment implications

Elderly depressed inpatients with high vs. low scores on a quantitative mental status examination (the Mini-Mental State (MMS)) were compared with regard to demographic and clinical characteristics, treatment and short-term response, and functional status at 2-year follow-up. Low-MMS patients were less well educated and more likely to be delusional, anxious, and globally impaired than high-MMS patients. The two groups responded equally well to treatment, but the low-MMS group required a lengthier hospital stay and greater use of neuroleptic medications. The two groups also had similar long-term outcomes, although greater attrition was observed among cognitively impaired subjects.