Depressed mood in a cohort of elderly medical inpatients: Prevalence, clinical correlates and recognition rate

Screening for depression in older medical inpatients

“…More participants scored above the recommended GDS-15 cut-points than in three similar studies in which 34% (Covinsky et al, 1999) and 22% (Pouget et al, 2000) scored 6; and 18% scored 7 (Inouye et al, 1998). The difference in findings may reflect the fact that the other populations sampled were non-UK based and aged over 70.…”

“…However, the cost implications for such a programme, particularly in terms of staffing, are potentially enormous. Studies in Europe and North America which used recognised screening tools and standardised diagnostic interviews in older medical inpatients reported between 9% and 42% of inpatients scored above recommended screening cut-points (Magni et al, 1985;Koenig et al, 1988a;Koenig et al, 1989;O'Riordan et al, 1989;Kok et al, 1995;Koenig et al, 1997;Inouye et al, 1998;Covinsky et al, 1999;Linka et al, 2000;Pouget et al, 2000), and between 6% and 36% had clinical depressive disorder (Koenig et al, 1988a;Rapp et al, 1988;O'Riordan et al, 1989;Koenig et al, 1991;Burn et al, 1993;Hammond et al, 1993;Fenton et al, 1994;Kok et al, 1995;Koenig et al, 1997;Linka et al, 2000;Schneider et al, 2000;Borin et al, 2001). This considerable variation is likely to be accounted for by differences in definition of screening, instruments used, variations in the target populations, approaches to sampling and accuracy of estimates.…”

Symptoms of depression and anxiety (MHI) following acute medical/surgical hospitalization and post‐discharge psychiatric diagnoses (DSM) in 839 geriatric US veterans

“…Psychiatric disorders, especially depressive and anxiety disorders, are common and often overlooked among older patients hospitalized for medical/surgical reasons (Pouget et al, 2000;Shah et al, 2001;Balestrieri et al, 2002). Numerous studies have shown that these disorders, as well as subsyndromal symptoms, have a significant impact on somatic illnesses and use of inpatient services, resulting in increased health care utilization and costs (Koenig et al, 1988;Covinsky et al, 1997;Berndt et al, 1998;Koenig and Kuchibhatla, 1999;Druss et al, 2000;Hammond et al, 2000;Huang et al, 2000;Schneider et al, 2000;Bula et al, 2001;Geiselmann et al, 2001;Hansen et al, 2001;Kvaal et al, 2001;Katon et al, 2003;Lavretsky and Kumar, 2003;Ruo et al, 2003).…”

The Serbian version of the geriatric depression scale: Reliability, validity and psychometric features among the depressed and non-depressed elderly

“…It is especially important to emphasize that depressed older adults are at an increased risk of suicide. [4,5,7].…”