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Pain + Depressive Symptoms Increase Risk for Cognitive Decline

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Dec 2, 2024.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Dec. 2, 2024 -- The coexistence of moderate-to-intense pain and depressive symptoms is a risk factor for the decline of global cognition and memory, according to a study recently published in Aging & Mental Health.

Patrícia Silva Tofani, Ph.D., from the Federal University of Sergipe in Brazil, and colleagues assessed whether the coexistence of pain and depressive symptoms is a risk factor for cognitive decline in individuals aged 50 years and older. The analysis included longitudinal data from 4,718 participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

The researchers found that during 12 years of follow-up, individuals with moderate/intense pain and depression had a greater memory decline (−0.038 standard deviation per year) and global cognition score (−0.033 standard deviation per year) compared with those with no pain and no depression.

"It's relatively common for people to mistakenly attribute symptoms of depression and pain as normal factors of aging. And they're not," coauthor Tiago da Silva Alexandre, Ph.D., from the Federal University of São Carlos in Brazil, said in a statement. "This belief leads professionals who are not specialists in gerontology and geriatrics to minimize the complaints of older people in primary care and to fail to diagnose and treat modifiable conditions."

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Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

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Posted December 2024

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