Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-b6zl4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-03T21:30:52.023Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The prevalence of depressive disorders and the distribution of depressive symptoms in later life: a survey using Draft ICD-10 and DSM-III-R

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

A. S. Henderson ,
A. F. Jorm ,
A. Mackinnon ,
H. Christensen ,
L. R. Scott ,
A. E. Korten  and
C. Doyle
A. S. Henderson*
Affiliation:
NH&MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
A. F. Jorm
Affiliation:
NH&MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
A. Mackinnon
Affiliation:
NH&MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
H. Christensen
Affiliation:
NH&MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
L. R. Scott
Affiliation:
NH&MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
A. E. Korten
Affiliation:
NH&MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
C. Doyle
Affiliation:
NH&MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
*
1Address for correspondence: Professor A. S. Henderson, NH&MRC Social Psychiatry Research Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

The point prevalence of depressive disorders was estimated in a sample of persons aged 70 years and over, which included both those living in the community and those in institutional settings. Lay interviewers administered the Canberra Interview for the Elderly to the subjects and their informants. The point prevalence of depressive episodes as defined by the Draft ICD-10 diagnostic criteria was 3·3%. The rate for DSM-III-R major depressive disorder was 1·0%. The latter prevalence rate is similar to those reported elsewhere for the elderly. Evidence is accumulating that older persons may indeed have low rates for depressive disorders at the formal case level. Possible reasons for this finding are offered.

A scale for depressive symptoms, based exclusively on those specified in Draft ICD-10 and DSM-III-R, showed that the elderly do experience many depressive symptoms. Contrary to expectation, these did not increase with age. The number of depressive symptoms was correlated with neuroticism, poor physical health, disability and a history of previous depression. Attention now needs to be directed to the clinical significance of depressive symptoms below the case level in elderly persons.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 23 , Issue 3 , August 1993 , pp. 719 - 729
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1980). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn) DSM-III. American Psychiatric Association: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1987). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn-Revised). DSM-III-R. American Psychiatric Association: Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Bebbington, P. E., Hurry, J. & Tennant, C. (1991). The Camberwell Community Survey: a summary of results. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 26, 195–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belloc, N. B., Breslow, L. & Hochstim, J. R. (1971). Measurement of physical health in a general population survey. American Journal of Epidemiology 93, 328–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berkman, L. F., Berkman, C. S., Kasl, S., Freeman, D. H., Leo, L., Ostfeld, A.M., Cornoni-Huntley, J. & Brody, J. A. (1986). Depressive symptoms in relation to physical health and functioning in the elderly. American Journal of Epidemiology 124, 372–388.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bland, R. C., Newman, S. C. & Orn, H. (1988). Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the elderly in Edmonton. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 77, 57–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blazer, D. (1993). Mood disorders: epidemiology. In Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry/VI (ed. Kaplan, H. I. and Sadock, B. J.). Williams & Wilkins: Baltimore. (In the press.)Google Scholar
Blazer, D., Hughes, D. C. & George, L. K. (1987). The epidemiology of depression in an elderly community population. Gerontologist 27, 281–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brugha, T. S. & Bebbington, P. E. (1992). A comparison of DSM-III-R major depression and ICD10-DCR depressive episode diagnostic criteria using PSE9 clinical data. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research 2, 11–14.Google Scholar
Burvill, P. W. (1987). An appraisal of the NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area program. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 21, 175–184.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burvill, P. W., Hall, W. D., Stampfer, H. G. & Emmerson, J. P. (1989). A comparison of early-onset and late-onset depressive illness in the elderly. British Journal of Psychiatry 155, 673–679.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Copeland, J. R. M., Kelleher, M. J., Kellett, J. M., Gourlay, A. J., Gurland, B. J., Fleiss, J. L. & Sharpe, L. (1976). A semi-structured clinical interview for the assessment of diagnosis and mental state in the elderly: the Geriatric Mental State Schedule. I. Development and reliability. Psychological Medicine 6, 439–449.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Copeland, J. R. M., Dewey, M. E., Wood, N., Searle, R., Davidson, I. A. & McWilliam, C. (1987). Range of mental illness amongst the elderly in the community: prevalence in Liverpool using AGECAT. British Journal of Psychiatry 150, 815–823.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dartigues, J-F., Gagnon, M., Michel, P., Letenneur, L., Commenges, D., Barberger-Gateau, P., Auriacombe, S., Rigal, B., Bedry, R., Alpérovitch, A., Orgogozo, J. M., Henry, P., Loiseau, P. & Salamon, R. (1991). Le programme de recherche Paquid sur l'épidémiologie de la démence: méthodes et résultats initiaux. Revue Neurologique (Paris) 147, 225–230.Google Scholar
Dohrenwend, B. P., Levav, I., Shrout, P. E., Schwartz, S., Naveh, G., Link, B. G., Skodol, A. E. & Stueve, A. (1992). Socioeconomic status and psychiatric disorders: the causation–selection issue. Science 255, 946–952.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eysenck, S. B. G., Eysenck, H. J. & Barrett, P. (1985). A revised version of the psychoticism scale. Personality and Individual Differences 6, 21–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J. & Lawton, J. M. (1989). The relationships between neuroticism and depressive symptoms. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 24, 275–281.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E. & McHugh, P. R. (1975). ‘Mini-Mental State’: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research 12, 189–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuhrer, R., Antonucci, T. C., Gagnon, M., DartiguesJ-F., Barberger-Gateau, P. J-F., Barberger-Gateau, P. & Alpérovitch, A. (1992). Depressive symptomatology and cognitive functioning: an epidemiological survey in an elderly community sample in France. Psychological Medicine 22, 159–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, A. S. (1990). Co-occurrence of affective and cognitive symptoms: the epidemiological evidence. Dementia 1, 119–123.Google Scholar
Henderson, A. S., Montgomery, I. M. & Williams, C. L. (1972). Psychological immunisation: a proposal for preventive psychiatry. Lancet, ii, 1111–1113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, A. S.with Byrne, D. G. & Duncan-Jones, P. (1981). Neurosis and the Social Environment. Academic Press: Sydney.Google Scholar
Jenkins, R. (1985). Sex Differences in Minor Psychiatric Morbidity. Psychological Medicine suppl. 7, 1–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jorm, A. F. & Henderson, A. S. (1992). Memory bias in depression: implications for risk factor studies relying on self-reports of exposure. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research 2, 31–38.Google Scholar
Kaplan, G. A. & Camacho, T. (1983). Perceived health and mortality: a nine-year follow-up of the human population laboratory cohort. American Journal of Epidemiology 117, 292–304.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kay, D. W. K., Henderson, A. S., Scott, R., Wilson, J., Rickwood, D. & Grayson, D. A. (1985). Dementia and depression among the elderly living in the Hobart community: the effect of the diagnostic criteria on the prevalence rates. Psychological Medicine 15, 771–788.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kramer, M., German, P. S., Anthony, J. C., Von Korff, M. & Skinner, E. A. (1985). Patterns of mental disorders among the elderly residents of eastern Baltimore. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 33, 236–245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Livingston, G., Hawkins, A., Graham, N., Blizard, B. & Mann, A. (1990). The Gospel Oak Study: prevalence rates of dementia, depression and activity limitation among elderly residents in inner London. Psychological Medicine 20, 137–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mackinnon, A., Christensen, H., Cullen, J. S., Doyle, C. J., Henderson, A. S., Jorm, A. F., Korten, A. E. & Scott, L. R. (1993). The Canberra Interview for the Elderly: assessment of its validity in the diagnosis of dementia and depression. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 87, 146–151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murphy, E. (1982). Social origins of depression in old age. British Journal of Psychiatry 141, 135–142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newmann, J. P. (1989). Aging and depression. Psychology and Aging 4, 150–165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phillips, C. J. & Henderson, A. S. (1991). The prevalence of depression among Australian nursing-home residents: results using draft ICD-10 and DSM-III-R criteria. Psychological Medicine 21, 739–748.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pilowsky, I. (1980). Abnormal illness behaviour and sociocultural aspects of pain. In Pain and Society (ed. Kosterlitz, H. W. and Teranius, L. Y.), pp. 445–460. Verlag Chemie: New York.Google Scholar
Post, F. (1972). The management and nature of depressive illnesses in late life: a follow-through study. British Journal of Psychiatry 121, 393–404.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Regier, D. A., Boyd, J. H., Rae, D. S., Burke, J. D., Locke, B. Z., Myers, J. K., Kramer, M., Robins, L. N., George, L. K. & Karno, M. (1988). One-month prevalence of mental disorders in the United States: based on five epidemiologic catchment area sites. Archives of General Psychiatry 45, 977–986.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robins, L. N., Helzer, J. E., Croughan, J. & Ratcliff, K. S. (1981). National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Its history, characteristics, and validity. Archives of General Psychiatry 38, 381–388.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Snowdon, J. (1990). The prevalence of depression in old age. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 5, 141–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Social Psychiatry Research Unit (1992). The Canberra Interview for the Elderly: a new field instrument for the diagnosis of dementia and depression by ICD-10 and DSM-III-R. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 85, 105–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weissman, M. M., Myers, J. K., Tischler, G. L., Holzer, C. E., Leaf, P. J., Orvaschel, H. & Brody, J. A. (1985). Psychiatric disorders (DSM-III) and cognitive impairment in the elderly in a U.S. urban community. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 71, 366–379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization (1990). ICD-10 Chapter V. Mental and Behavioural Disorders (including disorders of psychological development). Diagnostic Criteria for Research. May 1990 Draft for Field Trials. World Health Organization, Division of Mental Health: Geneva.Google Scholar