title: Depression in hospitalized medically ill elders: evolution of the concept.
abstract: Recent research confirms high prevalence rates of major depression and appreciable depressive symptoms in hospitalized medically ill elders. Evidence also exists supporting that depressive symptoms, when combined with medical illness, have additive effects on patient function and well-being, in addition to raising the older person's risk of death from suicide as well as from nonsuicidal causes. Appropriate nursing identification and management of this problem is currently hindered by an unclear description of depression in these patients. The focus of this article will be a synthesis of the existing knowledge of depression in elderly patients hospitalized with medical illness. An evolving concept of depression will be described that is amenable to clinical nursing research with this population.
authors.affiliation: University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing, Philadelphia.
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Kurlowicz
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005851:Geriatric Nursing; D005852:Geriatric Psychiatry; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D016294:Models, Nursing; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D015995:Prevalence; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors