Anhedonia as a Potential Risk Factor of Alzheimer’s Disease in a Community-Dwelling Elderly Sample: Results from the ZARADEMP Project

David Vaquero-Puyuelo, Concepción De-la-Cámara, Beatriz Olaya, Patricia Gracia-García, Antonio Lobo, Raúl López-Antón and Javier Santabárbara
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David Vaquero-Puyuelo: Psychiatry Service, Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Concepción De-la-Cámara: Psychiatry Service, Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Beatriz Olaya: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Ministry of Science and Innovation, 28029 Madrid, Spain
Patricia Gracia-García: Department of Medicine, Psychiatry and Dermatology, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Antonio Lobo: Department of Medicine, Psychiatry and Dermatology, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Raúl López-Antón: Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Aragón (IIS Aragón), 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Javier Santabárbara: Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Aragón (IIS Aragón), 50009 Zaragoza, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: (1) Introduction: Dementia is a major public health problem, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most frequent subtype. Clarifying the potential risk factors is necessary in order to improve dementia-prevention strategies and quality of life. Here, our purpose was to investigate the role of the absence of hedonic tone; anhedonia, understood as the reduction on previous enjoyable daily activities, which occasionally is underdetected and underdiagnosed; and the risk of developing AD in a cognitively unimpaired and non-depressed population sample. (2) Method: We used data from the Zaragoza Dementia and Depression (ZARADEMP) project, a longitudinal epidemiological study on dementia and depression. After excluding subjects with dementia, a sample of 2830 dwellers aged ?65 years was followed for 4.5 years. The geriatric mental state examination was used to identify cases of anhedonia. AD was diagnosed by a panel of research psychiatrists according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria. A multivariate survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression model were performed, and the analysis was controlled by an analysis for the presence of clinically significant depression. (3) Results: We found a significant association between anhedonia cases and AD risk in the univariate analysis (hazard ratio (HR): 2.37; 95% CI: 1.04–5.40). This association persisted more strongly in the fully adjusted model. (4) Conclusions: Identifying cognitively intact individuals with anhedonia is a priority to implement preventive strategies that could delay the progression of cognitive and functional impairment in subjects at risk of AD.

Keywords: anhedonia; Alzheimer’s disease; psychopathology; risk factor; neuropsychiatry; community study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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