Geriatric Depression Scale Scores in a representative sample of 14 545 people aged 75 and over in the United Kingdom: results from the MRC Trial of Assessment and Management of Older People in the Community.
BACKGROUND
The 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) is recommended for screening older people, but there are no large epidemiological studies using this instrument in the UK. We describe the age and sex distribution of GDS-15 scores in the largest ever UK sample of people aged 75 and over.


METHODS
We used cross-sectional data from the MRC Trial of the Assessment and Management of Older People in the Community. The GDS-15 was offered to a representative sample of UK people aged 75 and over. Proportions of people attaining thresholds on the GDS-15 were calculated by age group and sex. Crude Odds ratios (ORs) for the effect of age and sex were calculated and the sex/age adjusted ORs estimated using logistic regression for surveys, at three GDS-15 thresholds.


RESULTS
Of 21 241 (71.2%; 95% Confidence intervals (CI): 67.9-74.3) eligible people, 15 126 received the assessment including the GDS-15. Of these, 14 545 (96.2%; 94.7-97.2) completed > or =13 GDS-15 answers and were included in the study. Scores showed a marked right skew, with a median of 2 (interquartile range: 1-3; range: 0-14). 34.6% (95% CI: 32.1-37.3) people scored > or =3, 8.0% (6.9-9.2) scored > or =6 and 3.1% (2.5-3.7) scored > or =8. Women were significantly more likely to score above all three thresholds than men, as were older participants.


CONCLUSIONS
Depression may be common in later life. The data provide a national picture of the numbers of older people who will score positively for depression in health screens which include the GDS-15, as recommended by the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Osborn
David P J
DP
Department of Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK. dosborn@rfc.ucl.ac.uk
Fletcher
Astrid E
AE
Smeeth
Liam
L
Stirling
Susan
S
Nunes
Maria
M
Breeze
Elizabeth
E
Siu-Woon Ng
Edmond
E
Bulpitt
Christopher J
CJ
Jones
Dee
D
Tulloch
Alistair
A
Siu-Woon
Edmond
E
D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012606:Scotland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014852:Wales / Q000453:epidemiology