Depression Across the Life Course Linked to Increased Risk for Dementia

Depression present in late life and midlife linked to significantly increased risk for all-cause dementia

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, June 3, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Depression across the life course is associated with an increased risk for dementia, according to a study published online May 29 in eClinicalMedicine.

Jacob Brain, from The University of Nottingham Medical School in the United Kingdom, and colleagues conducted an umbrella review and meta-analysis to assess incident dementia in individuals with a noncurrent history of depression.

Nine reviews were eligible for inclusion in the umbrella review: One was moderate quality, three were low, and five were critically low. The meta-analyses included 18 studies reporting depression onset late in life (with 901,762 participants), and seven studies reported depression assessed during midlife (with ≥2,501,269 participants); all studies were high quality, with no strong evidence of publication bias. The researchers found that depression present in late life and midlife significantly increased the risk for all-cause dementia based on pooled hazard ratios (hazard ratios, 1.95 and 1.56, respectively).

“This umbrella review and meta-analysis demonstrates that depression across the life course, particularly in later life, is associated with an increased risk of dementia, suggesting it may function both as a prodromal symptom and a modifiable risk factor,” the authors write. “This highlights the potential need for targeted screening and depression management in older adults especially.”

One author disclosed ties to the publishing and medical education industries.