Depressive disorders among older residents in a Chinese rural community

Liu CY, Wang SJ, Teng EL, Fuh JL, Lin CC, Lin KN, Chen HM, Lin CH, Wang PN, Yang YY,
Larson EB, Chou P, Liu HC

摘要

BACKGROUND: Two recent surveys of depression among Chinese elderly people sampled
different populations, used different case ascertainment methods and resulted in a seven-fold
difference in prevalence rates. The present study was conducted to compare prevalence rates
obtained with two commonly used methods in the same population, and to examine the risk
factors for depression. METHODS: The target population included all residents aged 65 years
and over in a rural Chinese community. Participants were interviewed for demographic and
medical information, examined by a neurologist and administered Chinese versions of the
Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form (GDS-S), the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument
(CASI) and an Activities of Daily Living (ADL) form. Individuals who screened positive on the
GDS-S were also interviewed by a psychiatrist for diagnosis according to the DSM-III-R
criteria. RESULTS: Among the 1313 participants, 26% screened positive on the GDS-S and
13% were diagnosed as having a depressive disorder, including 6.1% with major depression.
Individuals with depressive disorders were more likely to have poor ADL scores, lower CASI
scores, and chronic physical illnesses. They were also more likely to be female, older, illiterate
and without a spouse, but adding these variables did not increase the overall association with
the GDS-S score. CONCLUSIONS: Depression was quite common in this Chinese rural
geriatric population. The prevalence rate was twice as high when judged by depression
symptomatology rather than clinical diagnosis. The critical risk factors were functional
impairments, poor cognitive abilities and the presence of chronic physical illnesses.

摘自 Psychol Med 1997 Jul;27(4):943-949 .

回論文
Update: 2002/07/12