Association of white matter hyperintensities and clinical vascular burden with depressive symptoms in Black older adults
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: Black older adults have a higher vascular burden compared to non-Hispanic White (NHW) older adults, which may put them at risk for a form of depression known as vascular depression (VaDep). The literature examining VaDep in Black older adults is sparse. The current study addressed this important gap by examining whether vascular burden was associated with depressive symptoms in Black older adults. METHODS: Participants included 113 Black older adults from the Healthy Brain Project, a substudy of the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study. In multiple regression analyses, clinical vascular burden (sum of vascular conditions) and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume predicted depressive symptoms as measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, controlling for demographic variables. Follow-up analyses compared the associations in the Black subsample and in 179 NHW older adults. RESULTS: Higher total WMH volume, but not clinically-defined vascular burden, predicted higher concurrent depressive symptoms and higher average depressive symptoms over 4 years. Similar associations were found between uncinate fasciculus (UF) WMHs and concurrent depressive symptoms and between superior longitudinal fasciculus WMHs and average depressive symptoms. The association between depressive symptoms and UF WMH was stronger in Black compared to NHW individuals. CONCLUSION: This research is consistent with the VaDep hypothesis and extends it to Black older adults, a group that has historically been underrepresented in the literature. Results highlight WMH in the UF as particularly relevant to depressive symptoms in Black older adults and suggest this group may be particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of WMH.
DOI: 10.1002/gps.6052
Institutions: Georgia State University, University of Pittsburgh
Language: English
Subfield: Neurology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G100949702, G1031917901, G1083180012, G10987212, Motor learning of fall resistant skills from laboratory-induced falling among people with Alzheimer's disease, DYNAMICS OF HEALTH,AGING, AND BODY COMPOSITION, G1751314254, DYNAMICS OF HEALTH, AGING, AND BODY COMPOSITION, G2234647354, G2245013492, G2741792843, G2815873878, HEALTH ABC--COORDINATING UNIT, G3570525151, G5612504302, G581554933, G5909482378, CREST Center for Dynamic Multiscale and Multimodal Brain Mapping Over The Lifespan [D-MAP], G670738241, G825473073, G861947890, G870807107, G88327988, G9000001086, G9000142256, G9000284156, G945304896
OpenAlex ID: W4390507828