Tests for the evaluation of depression in the elderly: A systematic review

Integrated Literature Review of Depression in Elderly People

“…Additionally, bad habits such as smoking and drinking and a selfperceived poor health status are also related to depression in elderly people [7,8]. Psychological, mental, and social factors related to depression in elderly people include a history of general anxiety, specific phobia, compulsive behaviors, major depression, feelings of loneliness and lack of intimacy in relationships because of living in long-term care facilities without sufficient support, mental senescence, lost role or role changes because of deaths of family members or retirement, and social difficulties [2,3,10,11].…”

“…However, it is not sensitive to clinical variation and is thus not used in pharmacological trials. SDS consists of 20 items and is the main scale used to assess general depression in adults; it is used for false positive screening for seniors aged more than 70 years [2]. Furthermore, CED-D consists of 20 questions and distinguishes between clinical depression and emotional disorders in elderly people; GDS consists of 30 items and is a valid screening scale for major and minor depression; however, the scale for minor depression is not used in pharmacological trials [2].…”

“…Demographic factors such as age, gender, marital status, religion and faith, educational level, occupation, economic status, living patterns, hospitalization duration, and changed environment are all related to depression in elderly people [1,7,8,11]. Physical factors such as acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, stroke, cerebrovascular accident, hypothyroidism, crippling and/or disabling diseases, dementia and neurodegenerative diseases, bone fractures, osteoporosis, arthritis, and chronic illness; dysfunction in physical attributes, such as blood sugar and cardiovascular system imbalance, hydroelectrolytic disturbances, or lower liver and kidney functions; and lower daily activity score are related to depression in elderly people [1][2][3]6,7,10].…”

“…Systematically reviewed assessment scales for depression in elderly people and identified four major self-rating depression scales for elderly people: Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) [2,12], Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) [2,13], Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) [2,14], and GDS [2,15]. BDI consists of 21 items and evaluates the behavioral symptoms of depression.…”

“…Studies have shown that currently, 30% of elderly people aged more than 65 years have emotional disorders, and 64% of hospitalized elderly people have depression symptoms such as low mood, sleep disturbance, poor appetite, or pain combined with anxiety [1][2][3][4][5]. Additionally, 36.9% of 111 elderly patients experienced depression, and the prevalence was 45.7%, 36.2%, and 22.2% in those living in nursing homes, intermediate care facilities, and domiciliary care facilities, respectively [6].…”