Poster Session 05 Program Schedule
02/15/2024
02:30 pm - 03:45 pm
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)
Poster Session 05: Neuropsychiatry | Addiction/Dependence | Stress/Coping | Emotional/Social Processes
Final Abstract #59
Self-reported stress exposure impacts women’s quality of life and risk for Alzheimer’s disease
Jessica Caldwell, Cleveland Clinic, Las Vegas, United States
Nikki Kaplan, Cleveland Clinic, Las, United States
Shehroo Pudumjee, Cleveland Clinic, Las Vegas, United States
Category: Dementia (Alzheimer's Disease)
Keyword 1: aging (normal)
Keyword 2: aging disorders
Keyword 3: transdisciplinary research
Objective:
Chronic stress is associated with poor cognitive aging and dementia, and research has shown that women and men are—on average—exposed to different types of lifetime stressors. Differential experience of stressors combined with sex differences in the biological stress response may contribute to sex- and gender-based differences in rates and clinical courses of dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in particular. The present study sought to characterize the constellation of lifestyle and psychological factors associated with self-reported experience of regular recent life stress in women who are at risk for AD.
Participants and Methods:
Analyses included 167 women patients (mean age = 53.2 years; 91% White; 6.6% Hispanic) of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement Prevention Center at Cleveland Clinic (WAMPC) who had consented into a research registry. All have family history of AD and are cognitively normal based on abbreviated cognitive testing. The present analysis included patient self-report of regular stress (yes/no) and use of stress reduction techniques (yes/no), as well as responses on the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CESD), Fear of Alzheimer’s Disease Scale (FADS), Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Sleep scale, and Memory Controllability Inventory (MCI). Lifestyle variables assessed also included self-report of current alcohol use and social support. Mann-Whitney tests examined differences between women who reported regularly feeling stressed (n=86) to those who did not endorse regular stress on each variable.
Results:
Women who reported regular experiences of feeling stressed, as compared to women who did not, endorsed significantly more anxiety (p<0.001) and depression (p<0.001), and reported poorer sleep adequacy (p=0.001) and greater difficulty staying asleep (p=0.03). They also showed trends toward greater fears of developing AD (p=0.09) and higher beliefs that developing AD is inevitable (p=0.158). Nevertheless, women who reported recent stress also were more likely to endorse current use of stress reduction techniques (p<0.001). No differences were observed for self-reported drinking or social support, or for other aspects of sleep quality.
Conclusions:
Self-reported regular stressful experiences related to increased anxiety and depression symptoms, greater fears of AD, feelings of less control over memory skills, and poorer sleep adequacy and maintenance in midlife women at risk for AD. Asking in a basic fashion about stress levels may offer opportunities to implement low-cost interventions such as meditation and exercise, which in turn can impact not only on experience of life stress, but also on mental health, sleep, and AD resilience.
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