Persistent depressive-symptom trajectories predict conversion from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease:...

Depressive symptoms are increasingly recognized as a modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, most studies have assessed these symptoms at a single time point or within overlapping symptom-outcome windows, limiting temporal inference.

We analyzed 397 participants with baseline mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Depressive symptoms were measured with the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Group-based trajectory modeling classified symptom courses over the first 36 months. Cox proportional-hazards models estimated the risk of MCI-to-AD conversion over a maximum follow-up of 156 months after the landmark. Restricted cubic spline analysis evaluated the dose-response relationship between 36-month GDS scores and conversion hazard.

Three distinct trajectories emerged: persistently low, moderate, and high depressive symptoms. Compared with the low-symptom group, the moderate-symptom group had an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 2.36 (95 % CI 1.35-4.13; p = 0.003), and the high-symptom group an HR of 3.79 (95 % CI 1.86-7.69; p < 0.001). A two-group split (low vs. high) produced an adjusted HR of 1.98 (95 % CI 1.25-3.13; p = 0.003). Spline analysis confirmed a linear, dose-response association: each one-point increase in 36-month GDS corresponded to a proportional rise in hazard (p < 0.001).

The GDS is self-reported and not a clinical diagnosis.

Persistently high depressive symptoms over 36 months after MCI diagnosis provide robust prognostic information for AD progression. Routine monitoring and targeted interventions to reduce sustained depressive burden may help delay conversion from MCI to AD.