Conference paper
DEPRESSION IN ELDERLY WITH DIFFERENT COMORBIDITIES - JUST A SMALL PROBLEM OR SOMETHING MORE?
Bojan Miletic
orcid.org/0000-0002-8787-9550
; Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Luzerner Kantonsspital Wolhusen, Wolhusen, Switzerland ; Faculty of Health Studies, Rijeka, Croatia
Andrica Lekic
; Faculty of Health Studies, Rijeka, Croatia
Udo Courteney
; Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Luzerner Kantonsspital Wolhusen, Wolhusen, Switzerland ; Faculty of Health Studies, Rijeka, Croatia
Abstract
Background: Depression is the most common mental disorder in old age with a major impact on quality of life, morbidity and
mortality. In daily work, various tests are used in terms of screening to detect suspected depressive disorder. One of the most
commonly used tests is the so-called Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS-15). The aim of our study was to determine the incidence
of depressive symptoms in patients hospitalized in the geriatric ward.
Subjects and methods: A retrospective analysis included a total of 473 subjects (170 men and 303 women), with an average age
of 83.8 years (minimum 65 years, maximum 101 years). GDS-15 was tested in all subjects (a positive test implies a GDS-15 score of
The results obtained were then statistically processed.
Results: Of the total of 473 subjects, 105 (22.2%) were positively tested for depressive symptoms (34 men and 71 women). Most
of these live in the usual domestic setting (79.4% men and 74.6% women). In women, the symptoms are mostly present (49 women -
69.0%) in women living alone (widowed, divorced or unmarried. The male respondents were mostly men living in a partner
community (22 men - 64.7%)
Conclusion: The results obtained confirm the high incidence of depressive symptoms in the patients hospitalized in the geriatric
ward. Depression is not a normal part of ageing and must be considered as a serious medical problem. Therefore, routine screening
is necessary to identify the depressive symptoms, to detect and diagnose depression to begin treatment for such patients on time in
order to improve the quality of life of the elderly.
Keywords
depression; Geriatric Depression Scale; elderly
Hrčak ID:
271700
URI
Publication date:
19.10.2021.
Visits: 574 *