Depression and clinical functioning among cognitively normal and mildly impaired older adults

This study examines the relationship between depression and clinical functioning among cognitively normal (CN) and mildly cognitively impaired (MCI) older adults, with a specific focus on cross-ethnic comparisons between Hispanic and White non-Hispanic (WNH) populations. Despite a significant body of research linking depression to cognitive decline, limited studies have explored how this relationship differs across ethnic groups. Using data from the 1Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (1Florida ADRC), multiple ordinal logistic regression models were applied separately for Hispanic and WNH samples to assess the impact of cognitive status, depression severity, and age on clinical functioning, as measured by the modified Clinical Dementia Rating (mCDR) scale. Results indicated that among Hispanics, higher depression levels were significantly associated with greater clinical impairment, whereas this association was not significant among WNHs. Given the cross-sectional nature of this study, future longitudinal research should examine whether clinical impairment leads to increased depressive symptoms over time. These findings underscore the need for culturally informed interventions targeting depression in aging Hispanic populations.