Dermatology & Plastic Surgery Institute Outcomes
Cognitive Disorders
Depressive Symptoms
Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health cares for patients with a variety of neurocognitive disorders, including mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer disease (AD), Lewy body dementia (LBD), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Patients are evaluated for depressive symptoms, as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and health-related quality of life, as measured by the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS-10®).
Change in Depressive Symptoms in Patients With Cognitive Disorders
2022 – 2023
AD = Alzheimer disease, FTD = frontotemporal dementia, LBD = Lewy body dementia, MCI = mild cognitive impairment
Many patients with neurocognitive disease have comorbid conditions such as depression. Depression is most common in FTD but affects about one-third of patients with AD and MCI. Depression is a treatable complication of cognitive decline, and depressive symptoms remained stable or improved in most patients. Data include all patients with at least moderate depressive symptoms, as defined by a PHQ-9 score ≥ 10, at their initial visit. Clinically meaningful change was defined as a total point change of 5 or more.¹ Median interval between assessments was 267 days (range, 1-479 days).
