The Relationship Between Physical Performance, Cognition and Depression in Alzheimer Type of Dementia

Alzheimer disease is a progressive disorder and leading to decrease in cognition, and functional capacity. There are several reports on the relationship between motor function and cognitive impairment in healthy elderly. And also the relationship between depressive and cognitive status has been discussed before. We hypothesized that physical performance is related to cognitive deficits and aimed to examine the relationship between cognition, physical status and depression in this study. The study consisted of 26 patients with probable Alzheimer type of dementia (21 female, 5 male) according to NINCDS-ADRDA criteria, who were admitted to Dokuz Eylul University Dementia outpatient clinic. The Physical Performance Test (PPT), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Stroop Test, the Yesavage Geriatric Depression Scale (YGDS), and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (IADL) were used to evaluate the physical, depressive and cognitive status. We found significant weak to moderate correlations between PPT and cognitive tests [(the Stroop test; time to identify the colors of words (r: 0.5152 p: 0.012)], and MMSE [(r: 0.5564 p: 0.006)], and also YGDS (r: -0.4304 p: 0.040) after corrected with age, gender and education status (p<0.05). At the end of this study, it has been concluded that the Stroop test is more sensitive tool showing the correlation to depression and physical functions. Also, we believe a comprehensive therapeutic strategy should be designed in coping with physical and cognitive disability.