Depression is associated with lower American National Adult Reading Test scores among rural dwellers aged between 50 and 64 years in Texas: A Project FRONTIER Study

Brady Miller BS, Catherine Hudson MPH, Gordon Gong MD

ABSTRACT

Background: Previous studies have shown that depression is associated with cognitive impairment. However, others have shown that there is no significant difference in the scores of the National Adult Reading Test (NART), a screening test for intellectual functioning and general level of education, between those with vs. without depression. This study sought to examine whether depression is associated with the American version of NART (AMNART) in a rural cohort of West Texas.

Methods: Participants with IQ and AMNART tests were selected from Project FRONTIER, an ongoing epidemiology study of rural residents in four West Texas counties.

Results: AMNART scores were significantly lower in participants with depression (23.3±9.2) vs. those without depression (25.9±9.9) (p<0.05). Analysis by age group showed that AMNART scores were significantly lower in those with depression (22.0±10.1) compared with those without depression (26.2±10.2) in the age group 50 to 64 years (P=0.0322). Although AMNART scores were lower in participants with depression than those without depression in the age groups 40 to 49 years (25.0±8.6 vs. 26.2±10.2) and 65 years or older (23.6±8.2 vs. 25.6±9.5), they were not statistically significantly different.

Conclusions: Depression is associated with lower AMNART scores in rural residents aged between 50 and 64 years in West Texas.

Keywords: Depression, cognitive decline, cognitive functioning, rural health, American National Adult Reading Test, Project FRONTIER

Article citation: Miller B, Hudson C, Gordon Gong G. Depression is associated with lower American National Adult Reading Test scores among rural dwellers aged between 50 and 64 years in Texas: A Project FRONTIER Study. Southwest Respiratory and Critical Care Chronicles 2017:5(21):16–20
From: F Marie Hall Institute for Rural Health, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX
Submitted: 7/18/2017
Accepted: 10/6/2017
Reviewers: Gilbert Berdine MD, Shengping Yang PhD
Conflicts of interest: none