Depression in elderly women resident in a long-stay nursing home

Abstract

Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder among the elderly: it is present in 23-40% of community-dwelling elderly and in 25-80% of institutionalized elderly. Depressive symptoms are most prevalent in elderly women because they more readily seek healthcare services, are more vulnerable to stress and live longer than men.ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence of depression and its comorbidities in a long-stay nursing home (NH).MethodsThis retrospective, descriptive, epidemiological study was performed at a NH in southern Brazil and comprised the first part of a larger project to determine depression and its relationship with psychosocial factors in NH residents. Sociodemographic and medical data were obtained through the examination of medical files from November 2012 to January 2013. Depression was defined as the diagnosis reported by physicians in medical files and scores on the Geriatric Depression Scale (15-item version) above 5. Other clinical and psychiatric diagnoses were obtained from medical files.ResultsOut of a total of 142 elderly women, 51.4% had at least one psychiatric disorder, the most common being depression, affective bipolar disorder and mental retardation. Almost one third (32.3%) of the elderly women were depressed. The ward containing the highest number of cognitively and physically independent women contained 41.3% of the total depressed elderly. A total of 52.1% of all depressed elderly had other associated clinical or psychiatric disorders, with mental retardation and hypothyroidism being the most frequent.ConclusionThe prevalence of dementia was high in this NH. Further studies evaluating the psychosocial factors involved in depressed elders should be conducted in an effort to prevent depression and promote mental health in institutionalized elders.

Barriers and facilitators of engagement in psychological therapies among older adults with depression: A systematic review and thematic synthesis

“…Physical decline, such as hearing loss, was found to impact the psychological therapy engagement of older adults (Choi et al., 2008; Husain, 1999; Stark et al., 2018). Because visual and auditory impairments are prevalent in older adults with depression (Heine & Browning, 2014; Lampert and Rosso, 2015), mental health professionals should consider how the impairments are to be handled when treating these patients with psychological therapies. A decline in economic status can also impact psychological therapy engagement (Barg et al., 2010; Joo et al., 2011).…”

Instituições de Longa Permanência para Idosos no Brasil: revisão integrativa da literatura

“…Comparativamente, os idosos institucionalizados apresentam mais declínio cognitivo e sintomas depressivos em relação aos não institucionalizados (Borges, Rocha, Couto, & Mancini, 2013). Perdas cognitivas entre idosos institucionalizados, ajustadas segundo critérios de idade e escolaridade, também foram reportadas em outros estudos (Hartmann Junior, & Gomes, 2016;Lampert, & Rosso, 2015;Ferreira, Pinho, Pereira, & Ferreira, 2014;Medeiros, Alchieri, Azevedo, Varela de Oliveira, & Pereira, 2014).…”

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“…Depression is one of the most common mental disorders among elderly people (Cloosterman, Laan, & Van Alphen, 2013;Neufeld, Freeman, Joling & Hirdes, 2014). Approximately 54% elderly people suffer from depression especially those who live in a nursing home (Arifianto, 2006;Borza, et.al., 2015;Lampert & Rosso, 2015), because living in a nursing home substantiates the feeling of being neglected by the family (Natan, 2008). It can decrease their health status, daily living ability, quality of life, and lead to a reduction in cognitive abilities and an increase in mortality (Mansbach, Mace & Clark, 2015;Meeks, Van Haitsma, Schoenbachler & Looney, 2015).…”

“…Depression in the nursing home is often under diagnosed and undertreated (Mansbach et al, 2015). The symptoms that are usually observed are sleeping and eating disturbances, less or too much talking, difficulties in concentrating and decision-making (Lampert & Rosso, 2015;Niu & Arean, 2015). In order to improve the physical, psychosocial and well-being of elderly residents, it is important to implement productive activities such as art therapy.…”