Community study of depression in old age in Taiwan: Prevalence, life events and socio-demographic correlates

Published studies of prevalence of depression in old age in Taiwan have yielded equivocal results. To study the prevalence of depressive disorders among community-dwelling elderly; further, to assess socio-demographic correlates and life events in relation to depression. A randomised sample of 1500...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of psychiatry 2001-01, Vol.178 (1), p.29-35
Main Authors: CHONG, MIAN-YOON, TSANG, HIN-YEUNG, CHEN, CHENG-SHEN, TANG, TZE-CHUN, CHEN, CHWEN-CHENG, YEH, TZUNG-LIEH, LEE, YI-HUI, LO, HSIN-YI
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
Age
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Automation
Brain research
Classification
Community
Demography
Depressive Disorder - epidemiology
Educational Status
Female
Geriatrics
Health Status
High risk
Humans
Illnesses
Life Change Events
Life events
Light emitting diodes
Male
Medical diagnosis
Medical research
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Mental health
Mental states
Morbidity
Multivariate Analysis
Neurosis
Older people
Prevalence
Psychiatrists
Psychiatry
Regression Analysis
Residence Characteristics
Sex Distribution
Sociodemographics
Socioeconomic Factors
Taiwan - epidemiology
Taxonomy
Threats
Urban areas
Widowhood
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Summary:Published studies of prevalence of depression in old age in Taiwan have yielded equivocal results. To study the prevalence of depressive disorders among community-dwelling elderly; further, to assess socio-demographic correlates and life events in relation to depression. A randomised sample of 1500 subjects aged 65 and over was selected from three communities. Research psychiatrists conducted all assessments using the Geriatric Mental State Schedule. The diagnosis of depression was made with the GMS-AGECAT (Automated Geriatric Examination for Computerised Assisted Taxonomy); data on life events were collected with the Taiwanese version of the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule. One-month prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 37.7%, with 15.3% depressive neurosis and 5.9% major depression. A high risk of depressive disorders was found among widows with a low educational level living in the urban community, and among those with physical illnesses. Contrary to most previous reports, we found that the prevalence of depressive disorders among the elderly in the community in Taiwan is high and comparable to rates reported in some studies of UK samples.
ISSN:0007-1250
1472-1465
DOI:10.1192/bjp.178.1.29