relationship between depression and cognitive impairment among elderly: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: depression and cognitive impairment are common mental health problems among elderly, although few studies have examined their co-occurrence in aging population. so the aim of this study was to determine the relationship between depression and cognitive impairment in older adults. methods: this cross-sectional population-based study was conducted on 506 older adults were presented to the health centers of the municipality of tehran, iran. data were collected using the sociodemographic questionnaire, mini-mental state examination (mmse) and geriatric depression scale (gds). data were analyzed by using spss-17 with correlation analysis and logistic regression. results: the mean age of the participants was 65.71 years. older people (>75 years) had more twice risk (95% ci: 1.01-4.90) for cognitive dysfunction. there was a significant correlation between mmse and gds. elderly with collegiate education had 85% (95% ci: 0.1-0.5) and employed elderly had 56% (95% ci: 0.04-0.74) lower risk for cognitive dysfunction. elderly with severe depression had twice risk (95% ci: 1.41-4.8) for cognitive dysfunction. conclusion: findings suggest there is a relationship between depression and cognitive impairment among the elderly. these findings emphasis on assessing cognitive impairment and depression in geriatric assessment in elderly.