Risk factors for depressive disorders in very old age: a population-based cohort study with a 5-year follow-up

• Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2014-05, Vol.49 (5), p.831-839
• Main Authors: Petersson, Sofia, Mathillas, Johan, Wallin, Karin, Olofsson, Birgitta, Allard, Per, Gustafson, Yngve
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Age; Aged; Arterial hypertension. Arterial hypotension; Biological and medical sciences; Blood and lymphatic vessels; Cardiology. Vascular system; Cohort analysis; Dementia; Depression; Depression - diagnosis; Depression - epidemiology; Depression, Mental; Depressive disorder; Depressive Disorder - diagnosis; Depressive Disorder - epidemiology; Development and progression; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Epidemiology; Female; Follow-Up Studies; GDS-15; Geriatric Assessment; Geriatrics; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension - epidemiology; Incidence; Logistic Models; Longitudinal studies; Male; Medical research; Medical sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Medicine, Experimental; Mental depression; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Mood disorders; Multivariate Analysis; Neurology; Original Paper; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Quality of Life; Risk Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; Stroke; Stroke - epidemiology; Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system; Very old
• ISSN: 0933-7954; 1433-9285; 1433-9285
• DOI: 10.1007/s00127-013-0771-2

Purpose Depressive disorders are common among the very old, but insufficiently studied. The present study aims to identify risk factors for depressive disorders in very old age. Methods The present study is based on the GERDA project, a population-based cohort study of people aged ≥85 years ( n  = 567), with 5 years between baseline and follow-up. Factors associated with the development of depressive disorders according to DSM-IV criteria at follow-up were analysed by means of a multivariate logistic regression. Results At baseline, depressive disorders were present in 32.3 % of the participants. At follow-up, 69 % of those with baseline depressive disorders had died. Of the 49 survivors, 38 still had depressive disorders. Of the participants without depressive disorders at baseline, 25.5 % had developed depressive disorders at follow-up. Baseline factors independently associated with new cases of depressive disorders after 5 years were hypertension, a history of stroke and 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale score at baseline. Conclusions The present study supports the earlier findings that depressive disorders among the very old are common, chronic and malignant. Mild depressive symptoms as indicated by GDS-15 score and history of stroke or hypertension seem to be important risk factors for incident depressive disorders in very old age.