Association of Cerebrovascular Imaging Biomarkers, Depression, and Anxiety, with Mild Cognitive Impairment

The study included 1,738 Mayo Clinic Study of Aging participants (≥50 years old; 1,460 cognitively unimpaired and 278 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI)) and examined the cross-sectional association between cerebrovascular (CVD) imaging biomarkers (e.g., white matter hyperintensities (WMH), infarctions) and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scores, as well as their association with MCI. High (abnormal) WMH burden was significantly associated with having BDI-II>13 and BAI > 7 scores, and both (CVD imaging biomarkers and depression/anxiety) were significantly associated with MCI when included simultaneously in the model, suggesting that both were independently associated with the odds of MCI.