Epidemiology of Late- Life Depression and Ethnicity Research Study

描述(申请人提供)：晚年抑郁症流行病学和种族研究(ELLDERS)目前，抑郁症是美国残疾的主要原因，随着人口在未来几十年继续老龄化，抑郁症的重要性将继续上升。对于老年人，符合既定诊断标准的“真正的”抑郁障碍的全国患病率估计可以追溯到20世纪80年代精神病学流行病学的先驱工作。在人口统计学上，在过去的二十年里，美国和国际上的公共卫生发生了很大的变化。中年的“婴儿潮一代”现在正进入退休年龄，而在世纪之交之前基本上被忽视的拉美裔人，现在是这个国家最大的少数民族。此外，在过去的二十年里，新技术促进了我们对抑郁症的理解和治疗。然而，大多数患有抑郁症的美国人没有得到治疗或治疗不足，特别是处于不利地位的少数族裔和种族。Alexopoulos、Krishnan和其他人的深思熟虑的工作依赖于临床观察和患者研究，以提出晚年抑郁亚型；然而，这些亚型尚未在人群水平上进行检查。需要更新国家对老年人“真正的”抑郁障碍的估计，以便为老龄化人口提供当前和预测的基于证据的适当精神卫生资源分配。这项研究应用的产品可能为在老龄化和日益多样化的美国人口中预防老年抑郁症的机会提供洞察力。公共卫生相关性：项目申请(PA-07-082)题为晚年抑郁症流行病学和种族研究(ELLDERS)，是一项为期三年的研究，旨在检查与晚年抑郁症相关的疾病在国家一级的患病率、风险和负担。ELLDERS的发现将提供对美国受影响的老年人中严重抑郁症的分布和功能状况的最新估计。这项研究应用的产品可能为在老龄化和日益多样化的美国人口中预防老年抑郁症的机会提供洞察力。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Epidemiology of late-life depression and ethnicity research study (ELLDERS) Currently, depression is a leading cause of disability in the United States and will continue to ascend in importance as the population continues to grow older over the coming decades. For older adults, national prevalence estimates of "true" depressive disorders meeting established diagnostic criteria date back to pioneer psychiatric epidemiologic work in the nineteen-eighties. Demographically, much has changed over the past twenty-years in the public health of the United States and internationally. Middle-aged "baby boomers" are now entering retirement age and Latinos, largely ignored until the turn of the millennium, are now the largest ethnic minority in the country. Additionally, new technologies have advanced our understanding and treatment of depression over the past two decades. Yet, most Americans with depression go untreated or undertreated, especially disadvantaged ethnic and racial minorities. Thoughtful work by Alexopoulos, Krishnan and others has relied on clinical observations and patient studies of to suggest late-life depression subtypes; however these subtypes have not been examined at the population level. Updated national estimates of "true" depressive disorders in older adults are needed to inform current and projected evidence-based allocations of appropriate mental health resources for an aging population. The products of this research application may offer insights for opportunities for late-life depression prevention in an aging and increasingly diverse United States population. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The project application (PA-07-082) titled the Epidemiology of late-life depression and ethnicity research study (ELLDERS) is a three-year study to examine the prevalence, risks, and burden of disease associated with late- life depression at the national level. Findings from the ELLDERS will provide updated estimates on the distribution of major depression and functional status of affected older adults in the United States. The products of this research application may offer insights for opportunities for late-life depression prevention in an aging and increasingly diverse United States population.