Time to Dementia Diagnosis Among Veterans with Comorbid Insomnia and Depressive Episodes

Abstract

Background:

Older adults with heart failure are at elevated risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). Research suggests that insomnia and depressive episodes contribute somewhat dissociable impacts on risk for AD/ADRD in this patient population, although the temporal ordering of effects is unknown.

Objective:

This study examined time to dementia diagnosis among patients with comorbid insomnia and/or depressive episodes in an epidemiological sample.

Methods:

Secondary data analyses were conducted using a cohort study of 203,819 Veterans with a primary admission diagnosis of heart failure in 129 VA Medical Centers.

Results:

Patients with diagnoses of both insomnia and depressive episodes had the shortest time to a dementia diagnosis at both 1-year (Hazard ratio = 1.43, 95% CI [1.36, 1.51]) and 3-year follow-up time points (Hazard ratio = 1.40, 95% CI [1.34, 1.47]) versus patients with one or neither comorbidity.

Conclusions:

Individuals with both comorbidities had the shortest time to dementia onset. Screening for these comorbidities may help to identify patients at elevated risk of dementia who could benefit from enhanced monitoring or early intervention strategies for more rapid detection and management of dementia symptoms.