Depression in Older Adults

Abstract

Depression affects an estimated 15% to 19% of Americans ages 65 and older living in a variety of settings, yet the illness often goes unrecognized and untreated. Known risk factors for older adults include having chronic medical conditions, physical or cognitive functional decline, polypharmacy, experiencing multiple losses, and social isolation. There are brief screening tools that have proven effective in this population, and once recognized, depression is highly treatable. This article describes the signs and symptoms common in older adults, outlines several types of depressive disorders, discusses screening tools, describes treatment modalities, and addresses nursing implications.

Depressive Symptoms, Cognition, and Everyday Function Among Community-Residing Older Adults

“…Scores of 16 or higher indicate risk for clinical depression (Radloff, 1977); 14% of our sample scored within this range. The incidence of risk for clinical depression in the study sample approximates the prevalence rate of depression in the older adult population, which ranges from 15 to 19% in a community-dwelling population (Blazer, 2003; Cahoon, 2012). …”

Leisure, functional disability and depression among older Chinese living in residential care homes

“…Previous research has identified a range of risk factors for depression in older adults, including chronic medical conditions, polypharmacy, sleep disturbance, physical or cognitive functional impairment, bereavement and major losses, social isolation, and substance abuse (Cahoon, 2012;Madhusoodanan, Ibrahim, & Malik, 2010). Untreated depression can lead to serious problems, including alcohol abuse, chronic illnesses, suicide and the increased use of health care services (Reynolds, Alexopoulos, & Katz, 2002).…”

“…Untreated depression can lead to serious problems, including alcohol abuse, chronic illnesses, suicide and the increased use of health care services (Reynolds, Alexopoulos, & Katz, 2002). Various chronic medical illnesses that are prevalent in the elderly have been associated with untreated depression, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Parkinson's disease and chronic pain (Cahoon, 2012;Slavich & Irwin, 2014). One key barrier to the effective treatment of depression is medication non-adherence, which occurs when patents do not follow the recommended medication regimens (Pompili et al, 2013).…”

“…Moreover, depression affects not only the patient, but also the family and society (Pincus & Pettit, 2001). Depressive symptoms among older adults have been associated with increased caregiver burden among family caregivers (Cahoon, 2012).…”

Finger Tap Reaction Time as an Independent Prognostic Factor for Functional Outcome in Older Adults

“…The maximum score of the MMSE-KC is 30. In older adults, the association between depression and functional disability was identified in previous studies 23,24) . The Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale was used to evaluate depressive mood among participants in the present study 25) .…”