Comparison of cognitive performance between elderly people of different scholarities with and without depressive symptoms

Abstract

Introduction: The presence of depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment are highly correlated with aging. In addition to this, there are other variables that also influence the presence and severity of existing cognitive disorders, such as schooling level. Objective: compare the cognitive performance among the elderly of different educational levels with and without depressive symptoms through the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (RBMT). Methods: a cross-sectional study with elderly people of different scholarities, with and without
depressive symptoms. To evaluate the depressive symptoms, the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was used and the Rivermead Behavioral Memory Test (RBMT) and the Mental State Mini Examination (MMSE) were applied for the evaluation of cognition. Results: the study included 69 elderly people with a mean age of 68.4 years (SD ± 5.9) and a mean educational level of 7.9 years (SD ± 3.7), the mean GDS score was 3.3 points (SD ± 3.8) and the mean RBMT score was 16.19 points (SD ± 3.8). Conclusion: in the studied sample, there is
a significant difference in the performance of the elderly with and without depressive symptoms in the RBMT test when stratified by schooling.