The Link between Activities of Daily Living and Cortisol in Late-Life Depression

Dysregulated cortisol in older individuals is associated with neurodegeneration and executive dysfunction, among other negative health outcomes. Executive functioning deficits are believed to underlie declines in functioning among older adults. Despite these associations, there is limited research examining the relationship between cortisol and impaired functional status.

The present study examined the relationship between cortisol and functional status in a community sample of 51 older adults with depression. Pearson correlations and ordinal regressions were used to determine whether greater cortisol dysregulation was associated with ADL and IADL impairment.

Results indicated that individuals who had higher levels of cortisol also tended to demonstrate greater functional deficits. These findings remained true when functional status was measured by either a clinician-rated tool or a self-report measure.

The results of this study provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that elevated cortisol, in the context of depression, is associated with functional status deficits in older adults.

Findings from this study begin to fill the gap in research examining the relationship between cortisol and functional impairment in older adults and suggest that unique information can be gathered with the use of different functional status measures.