BackgroundTo study late-life depression and its unfavourable course and co morbidities in The Netherlands.MethodsWe designed the Netherlands Study of Depression in Older Persons (NESDO), a multi-site naturalistic prospective cohort study which makes it possible to examine the determinants, the course and the consequences of depressive disorders in older persons over a period of six years, and to compare these with those of depression earlier in adulthood.ResultsFrom 2007 until 2010, the NESDO consortium has recruited 510 depressed and non depressed older persons (≥ 60 years) at 5 locations throughout the Netherlands. Depressed persons were recruited from both mental health care institutes and general practices in order to include persons with late-life depression in various developmental and severity stages. Non-depressed persons were recruited from general practices. The baseline assessment included written questionnaires, interviews, a medical examination, cognitive tests and collection of blood and saliva samples. Information was gathered about mental health outcomes and demographic, psychosocial, biological, cognitive and genetic determinants. The baseline NESDO sample consists of 378 depressed (according to DSM-IV criteria) and 132 non-depressed persons aged 60 through 93 years. 95% had a major depression and 26.5% had dysthymia. Mean age of onset of the depressive disorder was around 49 year. For 33.1% of the depressed persons it was their first episode. 41.0% of the depressed persons had a co morbid anxiety disorder. Follow up assessments are currently going on with 6 monthly written questionnaires and face-to-face interviews after 2 and 6 years.ConclusionsThe NESDO sample offers the opportunity to study the neurobiological, psychosocial and physical determinants of depression and its long-term course in older persons. Since largely similar measures were used as in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA; age range 18-65 years), data can be pooled thus creating a large longitudinal database of clinically depressed persons with adequate power and a large set of neurobiological, psychosocial and physical variables from both younger and older depressed persons.

BackgroundLower extremity tendinopathy is a common sports injury, but it can also affect non-athletes. Because tendinopathy is difficult to treat and has negative effects on the ability to work and quality of life, development of preventive interventions is important. The first step in the Van Mechelen prevention model is to determine the extent of the problem. The primary aim of this study was to determine the incidence and prevalence of lower extremity tendinopathy in a Dutch general practice population. The secondary aim was to investigate possible associated factors.MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed in a Dutch general practice. Using International Classification of Primary Care codes, the electronic patient files were searched to identify cases of adductor tendinopathy, greater trochanteric pain syndrome, jumper’s knee, Achilles tendinopathy, and plantar fasciopathy in 2012. The tendinopathy patients were compared to the general practice population regarding age, gender, use of medication, and comorbidity using 95 % confidence intervals.ResultsThe prevalence and incidence rates of lower extremity tendinopathy found in this study were 11.83 and 10.52 per 1000 person-years. Lower extremity tendinopathy was more prevalent among older patients. No differences between tendinopathy patients and the general practice population were found regarding gender, use of medication, or comorbidity.ConclusionsIn this cross-sectional study in a Dutch general practice, the prevalence and incidence rates of lower extremity tendinopathy were 11.83 and 10.52 per 1000 person-years. Lower extremity tendinopathy deserves a higher place in locomotor system research to develop preventive interventions.

The Kessler Psychological Distress scale (K10) is an instrument that is widely used to screen for mental disorders, but information is lacking on its psychometric qualities in non-Western samples. This study used a population-based sample (N = 725) to assess the reliability and validity of the K10 across ethnic groups in an urban area. The results were generally supportive of the K10 as a reliable and valid instrument to screen for anxiety and depression in all three groups. Cronbach's alpha was high (0.93) and the results indicated the existence of a solid single factor structure. Item bias in relation to ethnic background was minor. In each group, there was good criterion validity with respect to one-month DSM-IV diagnosis for depressive and/or anxiety disorder. The results nevertheless highlight the importance of cross-cultural validation, as we found different cut-off values for ethnic subgroups to obtain optimal sensitivity and specifi city for detecting depressive and/or anxiety disorders.

Background: Coordination between care providers of different disciplines is essential to improve the quality of care, in particular for patients with chronic diseases. The way in which general practitioners (GP's) and medical specialists interact has important implications for any healthcare system in which the GP plays the role of gatekeeper to specialist care. Patient experiences and preferences have proven to be increasingly important in discussing healthcare policy. The Dutch government initiated the development of a special website with information for patients on performance indicators of hospitals as well as information on illness or treatment.