Three-year prognosis of depression in the community-dwelling elderly
Three-year prognosis of depression in the community-dwelling elderly
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DOI:
10.1192/bjp.176.5.453
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发表时间:
2000-05-01
影响因子:
10.5
通讯作者:
Lawlor, BA
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Denihan, A;Kirby, M;Lawlor, BA
Background Depression is the most common mental disorder in the community-dwelling elderly.Aims To determine the three-year prognosis of depression in a cohort of 127 community-dwelling elderly subjects and identify factors relevant to outcome.Method The subjects, diagnosed depressed at year 0 using the GMS-AGECAT package, were followed up three years later. A number of factors were investigated for an association with recovery from, or persistence of, depression.Results At follow-up, 30.2% of the depressed subjects had died, 34.9% had persistent or relapsed case-level depression, 24.5% had other case- or subcase-level mental illness and 10.4% had recovered completely. Physical ill-health. bereavement and positive family history of depression were associated with poor outcome, whereas treatment with antidepressant medication significantly improved prognosis.Conclusions Late-life depression in community-dwelling subjects is a chronic condition. However. the positive response to antidepressant medication suggests that it should be vigorously treated.Declaration of interest This study was partly funded by the Health Research Board of Ireland.