Somatic symptoms of depression in elderly patients with medical comorbidities

Objective Somatic symptoms of depression such as fatigue create a diagnostic dilemma when assessing an older patient with medical comorbidities, since chronic medical illnesses may produce similar symptoms. Alternatively, somatic symptoms attributed to medical illness may actually be caused by depre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of geriatric psychiatry 2005-10, Vol.20 (10), p.973-982
Main Authors: Drayer, Rebecca A., Mulsant, Benoit H., Lenze, Eric J., Rollman, Bruce L., Dew, Mary Amanda, Kelleher, Kelly, Karp, Jordan F., Begley, Amy, Schulberg, Herbert C., Reynolds III, Charles F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Aged
Ambulatory Care
Biological and medical sciences
Depression
Depressive Disorder - complications
Depressive Disorder - psychology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Geriatric Assessment - methods
Geriatric psychiatry
Geriatrics
Humans
Male
medical comorbidities
Medical sciences
Mental depression
Mental Health
Mood disorders
Older people
Physiological psychology
primary care
Primary Health Care
Psychoanalysis
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Quality of Life
rating scales
somatization
Somatoform Disorders - complications
Somatoform Disorders - psychology
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Summary:Objective Somatic symptoms of depression such as fatigue create a diagnostic dilemma when assessing an older patient with medical comorbidities, since chronic medical illnesses may produce similar symptoms. Alternatively, somatic symptoms attributed to medical illness may actually be caused by depression. These analyses were designed to determine if somatic symptoms in older patients are more strongly associated with chronic physical problems or with depression. Design Reanalysis of data from an observational study of depression in primary care and a randomized trial of paroxetine and nortriptyline for the treatment of major depression. Patients were evaluated with a structured diagnostic interview and a battery of psychiatric, physical, and psychosocial measures. Participants Two hundred and forty eight primary care and psychiatric patients aged ≥ 60 years. Methods Associations among depression, somatization, and chronic physical problems were examined using correlations and regression modeling. Results Two somatization measures, the Asberg Side Effects Rating Scale and the Utvalg for Kliniske Undersogelser (UKU), were significantly associated with psychological symptoms of depression (r = 0.73 and r = 0.76, p 
ISSN:0885-6230
1099-1166
DOI:10.1002/gps.1389