Relationship of endogenous levels of sex hormones to cognition and depression in frail, elderly women

Neuropsychological evaluations and sex hormone assays for 188 elderly, female nursing home residents (mean age: 87.8 years; standard deviation: 7.0 years) revealed inverse relationships for dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) blood levels and cognition scores based on the Mini-Mental State Exam and the Test for Severe Impairment, as well as for scores of the Immediate Recall, Copy, and Recognition tests of Me Visual Reproduction subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R; VR). A positive correlation between estrone and depression approached significance, as did the inverse relationships between the Recognition scores of the WMS-R; VR with androstenedione. These results and findings of others suggest that sex hormone actions in elderly women may differ from those in younger populations. A possible stress-related mechanism is also posited.