Vascular risk factors for depression and apathy | Part 1 48 Methods Study design and population This study was performed as part of the LASA. LASA is a prospective cohort study focusing on physical functioning and well-being of an older (>=55 years) population (n = 3,107). LASA started in 1992/1993, with follow-up measurements every 3 years (see references 15 and 16). For this particular study, 9 years of follow-up data were available. Eligible were those participants without a history of stroke (n = 3,018, 97.1%), allowing us to study incident stroke and availability of baseline data on depressive symptoms (missing for 51 participants) and stroke (missing for 2 participants). Of these 2,965 eligible LASA participants, 915 participants had no data on neuroticism, leaving a final sample of 2,050 participants. The number of missing measurements on neuroticism was high because of themethod of measurement: participants were asked to return a self-report questionnaire on neuroticism after being interviewed. Table 1 presents the baseline characteristics for those participants with and without data on neuroticism. Table 1. Characteristics of included patients versus those with missing data on neuroticism Characteristic Included (n=2050) Excluded (n=915) Statistics Age (years) Mean (SD) 69.3 (8.5) 73.2 (8.6) p<.001 Female sex n (%) 1046 (51.0%) 500 (54.6%) p=.068 Cognitive functioning (MMSE score) Mean (SD) 27.5 (2.3) 25.9 (3.6) p<.001 Depressive symptoms (CESD score) Mean (SD) 7.4 (7.4) 8.9 (8.4) p<.001 One or more functional limitations n (%) 728 (35.7%) 445 (49.3%) p<.001 Smoking (yes) n (%) 477 (24.4%) 171 (27.7%) p=.098 Stage 1 or 2 hypertension n (%) 479 (24.9%) 144 (23.6%) p=.528 Cardiac disease n (%) 401 (19.6%) 210 (23.0%), p=.035 Diabetes mellitus n (%) 224 (10.9%) 134 (14.7%) p=.004 Obesity n (%) 323 (17.6%) 134 (21.6%) p=.024 Use of antidepressants n (%) 37 (1.9%) 12 (1.9%) p=.946 Incident stroke n (%) 117 (5.7%), 59 (6.4%) p=.430 Abbrevations: SD, standard deviation; n, number of participants; MMSE, Mini Mental State Examination; CESD, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale Standard protocol approvals, registrations, and patient consents All participants of LASA completed an informed consent after oral and written information. The Medical Ethics Committee of the VU University Medical Center approved the study design and procedures. Variables of interest Stroke morbidity and mortality Nonfatal stroke was assessed using an algorithm based on the 3-yearly prospective
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