Course of depressive symptoms and associated factors in people aged 65+ in Europe: A two-year follow-up

Abstract

Background: The epidemiology of depressive disorders presents notable differences among European countries. The objectives of the study are to determine the prevalence, incidence, persistence and remission rates of depressive symptoms and to identify risk factors and differences between four European regions. Method: Prospective cohort design using data from waves 5 and 6 (2013-15) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Sample size included 31,491 non-institutionalized adults aged 65+. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the EURO-D. Results: The prevalence of depressive symptoms (EURO-D ≥4) was 29.8% and 31.5%in waves 5 and 6, respectively. The risk factors associated depressive symptoms were poorer self-rated health, loneliness, impairment in ADL, female gender and financial difficulties. Incidence was 6.62 (99.9% CI: 6.61-6.63)/100 person-years and the persistence and remission rates were 9.22 and 5.78, respectively. Regarding the differences between European regions, the incidence (4.93 to 7.43) and persistence (5.14 to 11.86) rates followed the same ascending order: Northern, Eastern, Continental and Southern. The remission presented higher rates in the Eastern and Southern (6.60-6.61) countries than in the Northern and Continental (4.45-5.31) ones. Limitations: The EURO-D scale is unable to distinguish between clinically relevant depressive symptoms and major depression. Conclusion: The risk factors related to the incidence of depressive symptoms differed across European regions. In countries of eastern and southern Europe the most important predictors were female gender and impairment in ADL. Poorer self-rated health and older age were more relevant in the Northern countries, and chronic diseases were a key factor in the Continental region.

Dose–response relationship between intergenerational contact frequency and depressive symptoms amongst elderly Chinese parents: a cross-sectional study

“…That study defined depressive symptoms using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) with a cut-off score of ≥6 [46]. Our result is also higher than the prevalence of 31.5% reported in elderly Europeans; the results there were measured using the EURO-D scale with a cut-off score of ≥4 [47]. By contrast, the prevalence for institutionalised elderly persons in Brazil was 45.8% [48] and it was 60.6% in elderly Nepalese [49].…”

Predicting Loneliness from Where and What People Do

“…In 2018, the United Kingdom made international headlines by announcing a Minister of Loneliness to address growing concerns about negative outcomes for its lonely citizens. Such outcomes include increased anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation (Chang et al 2017;Conde-Sala et al 2019;Maes et al 2019). Physical health is also at risk; loneliness is associated with poor cardiac health, inadequate sleep patterns, and lower subjective health ratings (Cacioppo et al 2002;Peltzer and Pengpid 2017).…”

Stability of clinically relevant depression symptoms in old‐age across 11 cohorts: a multi‐state study

“…However, the probability of manifesting meaningful depression symptoms raised over time, especially due to increasing episode persistence and recurrence. In this line, robust evidence supports the increasing levels of depression symptoms throughout later life …”

“…Discrepancies with other studies exist probably due to our multi‐state conceptualisation (i.e. we differentiated between three symptom statuses); assessment tools and cut‐off points across studies (see Table and the Supplementary material); and provenance of data, as our results relied on high‐income country data . Symptom remission (conceptualised as moving from symptom episode status to no depression) was proven to be very likely.…”