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Anxiety Disorders Associated With Worse Cognitive Function
Multiple anxiety disorders and symptoms were associated with poorer cognitive functioning, particularly in those with agoraphobia and of younger ages, according to a study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
“In this large cross-sectional cohort study of community-dwelling adults, we found little support for a specific role of executive dysfunction in anxiety disorders,” lead author Bernice J.A. Gulpers, PhD, Department of Old Age Psychiatry, Mondriaan, Maastricht, the Netherlands, and co-authors noted. “For high scores on the GAD-7, the association with executive functioning became non-significant after adjustment for depressive disorder but remained significant for cognitive impairment.”
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Researchers analyzed data from 7344 participants of The Maastricht Study, ages 40 to 75. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview was used to measure variations of panic disorder and agoraphobia, and generalized anxiety symptoms were measured with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7). Executive functioning, memory, processing speed, and cognitive impairment were all evaluated.
Agoraphobia was associated with an increased likelihood of impairment and worse scores in all cognitive domains. High GAD-7 scores were associated with poorer processing speed and higher cognitive impairment. Patients with panic disorder had worse scores in memory tasks. Associations were stronger among younger participants and those with type 2 diabetes.
“Further research is needed to fully understand the cognitive profile of different anxiety disorders and study putative underlying biological pathways,” researchers concluded. “More knowledge will lead to better differentiation between anxiety and other causes of cognitive problems and to better treatment regimes.”
