Prevalence of mental illness in a rehabilitation unit for older adults.
The prevalence of psychiatric disorders was studied in 78 elderly people in a rehabilitation unit for older adults. The patients were assessed using the Evans Liverpool depression rating scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale and Mini-Mental State Examination. Twenty-eight (35.9%) patients were found to be depressed, 15 of these also had raised anxiety. Thirty-one (41.0%) patients had significant cognitive impairment and 14 of these had associated depression. Only 33 (42%) had no evidence of either cognitive impairment or mood disorder. On discharge, 20 (25.6%) patients were on antidepressant treatment but only 50% of those had this diagnosis recorded on the discharge summary. Our results showed higher prevalence of depression in this situation compared with the reported prevalence of 20-30% in the acute hospital setting. We recommend that all patients undergoing rehabilitation should be routinely screened for depression as it is common and treatment will improve the overall outcome.
Shah
D C
DC
Department of Medicine for the Elderly, Wirral Hospitals NHS Trust, Wirral, UK.
Evans
M
M
King
D
D
D000368:Aged; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers; D016896:Treatment Outcome