[Role of personality in depression of the elderly: difference between early and late life depression].
Personality disorders have been implicated in the occurrence of depression in the elderly. The main purpose of this study was to assess the role of personality disorders in depression of the elderly and to distinguish between early and late onset depression. The study included 48 subjects over 65 years of age from a department of psychiatry, who suffered from a major depressive episode according to the criteria of the DSM-III-R, without bipolar characteristics. The patients were examined at two different times. At the first interview, depression was assessed by the mini-GDS and the CES-D scales, and a cognitive disorder was ruled out by the Mini-Mental State Examination. The patients were then classified in two groups according to the time of the first occurrence of depression, before (early onset depression) or after (late onset depression) 65 years of age. A second evaluation was performed after the cure of the depression. The patients' personality was then assessed using the International Personality Disorder Examination, in its VKP French-translated version, which evaluates personality disorders as defined by the criteria of the DSM-III-R and the ICD-10. The frequency of personality disorders was higher in patients with early-onset depression rather than in those with late onset depression. The most frequent personality disorder was avoiding personality (Cluster C) according to categorical as well as dimensional assessment. "Dependant personality" (Cluster C) was also quite often associated with early-onset depression. However this results should be confirmed by a larger study.
Nubukpo
Philippe
P
Service hospitalo-universitaire de psychiatrie adulte et de psychologie clinique, Limoges.
Hartmann
Joël
J
Clément
Jean-Pierre
JP
D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*