LAUSR

OBJECTIVE This study aims to assess the effects of stressful events in senior patients who later developed ischemic stroke, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. BACKGROUND Psychological stress may be a risk factor for dementias, but the association between exposure to stressful life events and the development of cognitive dysfunction has not been conclusively demonstrated. We hypothesize that if a stressful event has an impact on the subjects, its effects would be different in the three diseases. MATERIAL AND METHODS Together with demographic variables (age, sex, race, socioeconomic and cultural levels), five types of past stressful events were recorded in 1024 patients with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's diseases and Ischemic Stroke: death or serious illness of close relatives, job dismissal, change of financial status, retirement, and change of residence. Time-to-diagnosis (months from the event to the first symptoms: retrospective study) and evolution time (years of follow-up of each patient: prospective study) were recorded. Analysis of variance and non-parametric methods were applied to the variables time-to-diagnosis and evolution time to analyze differences between these diseases. RESULTS The demographic variables age, sex, race, economic and cultural levels were found to be statistically non-significant; differences in the economic level were significant (P<0.05). Significant differences (P<0.001) were found in the mean time-to-diagnosis between diseases (Alzheimer>Parkinson's>Stroke), and minor differences (P<0.05) in evolution time. CONCLUSION Differences in time-to-diagnosis between the diseases indicate that the stressful effect of having experienced the death or serious illness of a close relative has an impact on their emergence. The measurement of time-to-diagnosis and evolution time proves useful in detecting differences between diseases.