title: Clinically relevant depression in old age: An international study with populations from Canada, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
abstract: Our aim is to assess cross-national variations in prevalence of clinically relevant depression and to examine the relationships of social and health factors with depression in five diverse populations of older adults, from Canada, Brazil, Colombia and Albania. We used the data from the International Mobility in Aging Study. Clinically relevant depression was defined as a score of ≥16 on the Center for Epidemiologic Study Depression Scale (CES-D). Poisson regressions with robust covariance correction were used to estimate prevalence ratios associated with potential risk factors. Prevalence of clinically relevant depression across research sites varied widely, being consistently higher in women than in men. It was lowest in men from Brazil (6.3%) and highest in women from Albania (46.6%). Low education and insufficient income, living alone, multiple chronic conditions, and poor physical performance were all significantly associated with depression prevalence. Poor physical performance was more strongly associated with depression in men than in women. Similar factors are associated with clinically relevant depression among men and women and across research sites. The large variation in depression prevalence population rates is unexplained by the classical individual factors considered in the study suggesting the impact of country characteristics on depression among older populations.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, Tirana, Albania; University of Medicine, Tirana, Albania. Electronic address: albanylli@yahoo.co.uk.
authors.forename: Alban
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ylli
authors.affiliation: Institut de recherche en Santé Publique de l'Université de Montréal (IRSPUM), Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Malgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miszkurka
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Susan P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guralnik
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Nandini
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Deshpande
authors.affiliation: Institut de recherche en Santé Publique de l'Université de Montréal (IRSPUM), Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Maria Victoria
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Zunzunegui
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D000415:Albania / Q000453:epidemiology; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D004522:Educational Status; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: Aging; Depression; Disability; Global health; Sex; Social factors