It is widely recognized that depression may precipitate the incidence of dementia in the elderly individuals and individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) in particular. However, the association between subthreshold depression (SD) and cognitive deficits in patients with aMCI remains unclear. To address this, we collected demographic information and conducted a battery of neuropsychological cognitive assessments in 33 aMCI participants with SD (aMCI/SD+), 33 nondepressed aMCI participants (aMCI/SD-), and 53 normal controls (NC). Both aMCI groups showed significantly poorer performance in most cognitive domains relative to the NC group (ie, memory, language, processing speed, and executive function). Notably, the aMCI/SD+ group showed significantly poorer attention/working memory compared with the aMCI/SD- group. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed a significant negative association between the severity of depressive symptoms and attention/working memory capacity (β = - .024, P = .024), accounting for 8.28% of the variations in this cognitive domain. All statistical analyses were adjusted by age, sex, and years of education. A logistic regression model had an accuracy of 72.4% in discriminating between the aMCI/SD+ and aMCI/SD- groups based on individual cognitive profiles over 6 domains. Our findings indicate that patients with aMCI with and without SD have distinct patterns of cognitive impairment. This finding may facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of SD in patients with aMCI.

中文翻译：

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轻度认知障碍伴阈下抑郁症的认知缺陷特征。

众所周知，抑郁症可能会导致老年人和患有轻度认知障碍（aMCI）的个体中痴呆症的发生。然而，aMCI患者的亚阈下抑郁（SD）与认知缺陷之间的关系仍不清楚。为了解决这个问题，我们收集了人口统计学信息，并对33名患有SD的aMCI参与者（aMCI / SD +），33名非抑郁性aMCI参与者（aMCI / SD-）和53名正常对照（NC）进行了一系列的神经心理学认知评估。与NC组相比，两个aMCI组在大多数认知领域均表现出明显较差的表现（即，记忆力，语言，处理速度和执行功能）。值得注意的是，与aMCI / SD-组相比，aMCI / SD +组显示出明显的注意力/工作记忆差。多元线性回归分析显示，抑郁症状的严重程度与注意力/工作记忆能力之间显着负相关（β=-.024，P = .024），占该认知领域变异的8.28％。所有统计分析均根据年龄，性别和受教育年限进行了调整。逻辑回归模型基于6个域的个人认知状况，在区分aMCI / SD +组和aMCI / SD-组时的准确性为72.4％。我们的发现表明，患有或未患有SD的aMCI患者都有明显的认知障碍模式。这一发现可能有助于aMCI患者SD的诊断和治疗。占该认知领域变异的8.28％。所有统计分析均根据年龄，性别和受教育年限进行了调整。逻辑回归模型基于6个域的个人认知状况，在区分aMCI / SD +组和aMCI / SD-组时的准确性为72.4％。我们的研究结果表明，患有aMCI并伴有SD的患者具有明显的认知障碍模式。这一发现可能有助于aMCI患者SD的诊断和治疗。占该认知领域变异的8.28％。所有统计分析均根据年龄，性别和受教育年限进行了调整。逻辑回归模型基于6个域的个人认知状况，在区分aMCI / SD +组和aMCI / SD-组时的准确性为72.4％。我们的研究结果表明，患有aMCI并伴有SD的患者具有明显的认知障碍模式。这一发现可能有助于aMCI患者SD的诊断和治疗。我们的研究结果表明，患有aMCI并伴有SD的患者具有明显的认知障碍模式。这一发现可能有助于aMCI患者SD的诊断和治疗。我们的研究结果表明，患有aMCI并伴有SD的患者具有明显的认知障碍模式。这一发现可能有助于aMCI患者SD的诊断和治疗。