Geriatric depression: prevalence, risk factors, and relationship to physical illnesses in a sample of medical clinic outpatients
Geriatric depression: prevalence, risk factors, and relationship to physical illnesses in a sample of medical clinic outpatients
Mahmoud, Monsef M.; Abdel-Fadeel, Nashaat A. M.; Hassan, Maha A.; Taha, Mohamed; Elsherbiny, Amr M.; Saad Eldin, Ahmed M.; Khafagy, Amal T.
Middle East Current Psychiatry: April 2016 - Volume 23 - Issue 2 - p 93–98
doi: 10.1097/01.XME.0000481455.09653.af
Abstract
Background: Depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorders among elderly patients attending outpatient medical clinics. Unrecognized and untreated depression in the elderly population may lead to excessive use of healthcare services, decreased treatment compliance, and increased morbidity and mortality related to the underlying medical illness, or to suicide.
Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical presentation, prevalence, and the main associative factors of geriatric depression in outpatient medical clinics in Minia University Hospital to aid in planning treatment and future course of action.
Participants and methods: A cross-sectional study design was carried out, selecting 300 elderly patients aged 55 years or older from the outpatient medical clinics at Minia University Hospital. A Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment was carried out. The Mini-Mental State Examination was used for the assessment of cognitive function (participants scoring 24 or lower were excluded). Clinical diagnosis was made on the basis of DSM-IV-TR. Assessment of depression was made using the Geriatric Depression Scale-short Arabic version and the Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale. Functioning was evaluated using the Activities of Daily Living scale.
Results: The prevalence of depressive disorders in our sample was 38.7%: major depression constituted 7%, minor depression 14%, dysthymic disorder 2.7%, and subsyndromal symptomatic depression constituted 15%. Depression in elderly medical outpatients was found to be significantly associated with positive past and/or family history of depression.
Conclusion: Geriatric depression is a major health problem in medical outpatients. It is significantly correlated with positive past and/or family history of depression and the number of psychosocial stressors, physical illnesses, prescribed drugs, and previous hospitalizations.
