CONCLUSION
The major finding of the study is that there is no difference
in depression between the elderly with MCI and those with
NC although a correlation between cognitive function and
depression has been regarded as solid in previous studies.
Thus this study provides a groundbreaking finding that may
affect trends in further nursing practice and research. Specifically,
future studies on this topic should reconsider and
scrutinize in more depth the relationship between cognitive
function and depression. Nurses in community practice
should understand that depression is not a manifestation
of cognitive impairment and should develop effective
nursing strategies for assessing depression while considering
other factors including age, sex, education, and daily living
activities.
This is a more sophisticated study than those previously
published because we concurrently considered other factors
that could account for depression. Based its findings and
limitations, we recommend repeated and extensive research
that explores and compares the characteristics of MCI
elderly people in a community as well as longitudinal studies
to determine precipitating factors for MCI and examine the
rate of progression of MCI into dementia.