Risk factors and psychosocial consequences in depression of octo- and nonagenerians: results of an epidemiological study

Abstract

In a two-wave community study in Munich, Germany, a representative sample of 402 people older than 85 years was restudied 1 year later. In the first cross section a total of 358 (89.1%) subjects were interviewed. One year later 263 (73.5%) subjects were reexamined. Several diagnostic systems were used. The probands showed a high prevalence of depression--nearly one quarter of the interviewees. In this extreme age group gender differences in depression were minimal. Depressive were distinctly impaired in daily life. Depressive probands were more often found in institutions than in private households. Depressives were high users of the medical care system, but very rarely treated by specialists. Need for care and certain specific especially threatening life events were identified as risk factors for depression.

Risk factors for depression among the oldest-old in urban congregate housing: Contribution of grief

“…This also holds true for the oldest-old group (aged >75-90), for which several studies have found that physical (Forsell et al, 1998;Meller et al, 1997;Païvarintä et al, 1999) and cognitive functional impairment (Forsell et al, 1998) predict depression.…”

“…For example, in the longitudinal study by Jeon and Dunkle (2009), the oldest-old (aged >85) group was likely to report increased depressive symptoms with age. However, other studies have found a decline in the propensity for depression with increasing age (aged >65 years) (Mojtabai and Olfson, 2004) or no significant relationship with increasing age (aged >65 to >85 years) (Meller et al, 1997;Minicuci et al, 2002). Education level is also associated with depression.…”

Relations between the characteristics and psychological comorbidities of chronic pruritus differ between men and women: women are more anxious than men

“…Whether older age is associated with depression continues to be controversial. Several studies have shown that depressive symptoms increase with age, while others have failed to find a relationship between depressive symptoms and age, or even found a decrease of depression with higher age . Therefore, it cannot be excluded that the correlation between depressive symptoms and female sex is independent of CP, and represents only an effect of sex and age.…”

“…Several studies have shown that depressive symptoms increase with age, [55][56][57][58] while others have failed to find a relationship between depressive symptoms and age, or even found a decrease of depression with higher age. [59][60][61][62] Therefore, it cannot be excluded that the correlation between depressive symptoms and female sex is independent of CP, and represents only an effect of sex and age. Two studies found a correlation between arteriosclerosis and depression, particularly in women.…”

Who is diagnosed as suffering from depression in the German statutory health care system? An analysis of health insurance data

“…While institutionalisation concerns only a few people in the age group 50-60, it becomes increasingly relevant in the very old. A study in Munich found that, amongst the 80 and 90 year old population, more people living in nursing homes suffered from depression than those who did not [29]. Studies that exclude the institutionalised population, as most surveys do, may thus underestimate the prevalence of depression in late life.…”