Three-year prognosis of depression in the community-dwelling elderly.
BACKGROUND
Depression is the most common mental disorder in the community-dwelling elderly.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the three-year prognosis of depression in a cohort of 127 community-dwelling elderly subjects and identify factors relevant to outcome.


METHODS
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 sub-case-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.
Denihan
A
A
Mercers Institute for Research in Ageing, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. friars@indigo.ie
Kirby
M
M
Bruce
I
I
Cunningham
C
C
Coakley
D
D
Lawlor
B A
BA
D000368:Aged; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D001569:Benzodiazepines