title: Prevalence of depression among memory clinic patients as measured by the Cornell Scale of Depression in Dementia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Depression in dementia is common, but the prevalence rates differ according to the populations studied and which diagnostic tools are being used. The aim of this study is to explore the prevalence of depression among patients referred to a memory clinic or an outpatient clinic as measured by the Cornell Scale of Depression in dementia (CSDD) and to investigate which factors are associated with depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  The CSDD was completed for 1470 patients on their first visit to a memory clinic or an outpatient clinic. The prevalence of depression using three different cut-off points was calculated. Logistic regression and correlation analyses were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Half of the patients had dementia. The mean CSDD was 6.7 (SD: 5.3) for the whole group, and 50.2% had a score above 5, whereas 37.5% had depression defined as a CSDD score above 7, and 14.1% had a score above 12. The mean scores were higher among those with dementia other than Alzheimer's disease, those with previous depression, and those with greater impairment in the activities of daily living (ADL). In the logistic regression analyses, younger age, ADL dysfunction, and previous depression were significantly associated with higher CSDD scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that depressive symptoms are common among patients referred for a dementia assessment in specialist health care. The strongest factors associated with depressive symptoms were younger age, ADL impairment, and previous depression.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Geriatric Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine , Oslo University Hospital , Oslo , Norway.
authors.forename: Anne-Brita
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Knapskog
authors.forename: Maria L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Barca
authors.forename: Knut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Engedal
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
keywords: Cornell scale; dementia; depression; memory clinic; prevalence