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Does Self-Rated Health Predict Death in Older Adults with Depressive Symptoms?*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2012

Philip St. John*
Affiliation:
Section of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Canada Centre on Aging, University of Manitoba, Canada
Patrick Montgomery
Affiliation:
Vancouver Island Health Authority
*
Correspondence and requests for offprints should be sent to / La correspondance et les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à: Philip St. John Associate Professor, Head Section of Geriatrics, University of Manitoba GE 545 Health Sciences Centre, 820 Sherbrook Street Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3A 1R9 ([email protected])

Abstract

We analysed a prospective cohort study to determine (1) if self-rated health (SRH) predicts mortality in older adults with and without depressive symptoms, and (2) to determine if there is an interaction between SRH and depressive symptoms on mortality. We followed 1,751 community-dwelling adults aged 65 and older over five years. Measurements included age, gender, education, the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D), SRH, the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination (3MS), and the Older Americans Resource Survey (OARS). Our outcome measure was time to death. Analyses were conducted in those with, and those without, depressive symptoms. We constructed Cox regression models with an interaction term for the CES-D and SRH. The hazard ratio (HR) for mortality was 1.63 for those with depressive symptoms; it was 1.68 for those without. No significant interaction was found between depressive symptoms and SRH for mortality.

Résumé

Nous avons analysé une étude de cohorte prospective afin de déterminer (1) si l’auto-évaluation de son propre état de santé (AES) prédit la mortalité chez les personnes plus âgées, avec et sans symptômes dépressifs, et (2) de déterminer s’il y a une interaction entre l’AES et les symptômes dépressifs sur la mortalité. Nous avons suivi pendant cinq ans 1 751 adultes âgés de 65 ans qui habitaient dans les communautés. Les mesures comprenaient l’âge, le sexe, le niveau d’éducation, Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D), the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination (MMS), et le questionnaire Older Americans’ Research Survey (OARS). Notre indicateur de résultats était la duree de vie avant le décès. Les analyses ont été faites sur des sujets avant ou non des symptômes dépressifs. Nous avons construit des modèles de régression de Cox avec un terme d’interaction pour la CES-D et l’AES. L’indice de risque pour la mortalite était de 1,63 pour les sujets atteints de symptômes dépressifs ; il était de 1,68 pour les sujets sans symptômes. Aucune interaction significative n’a été trouvée entre les symptômes dépressifs et l’A-ES pour la mortalité.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2012

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Footnotes

*

The Manitoba Study of Health and Aging (MSHA) was funded primarily by Manitoba Health, with additional funding provided through the Canadian Study of Health and Aging by the Seniors Independence Research Program of the National Health Research and Development Program of Health Canada. The second wave of the MSHA was funded primarily by Manitoba Health’s Healthy Communities Development Fund with additional funding provided through the Canadian Study of Health and Aging by the Seniors Independence Research Program of the National Health Research and Development Program of Health Canada (Project No. 6606-3954-MC[S])). The results and conclusions are those of the authors, and no official endorsement by Manitoba Health or other funding agencies is intended or should be inferred.

Conflict of Interest: Neither author has any financial, personal, or potential conflict of interest.

Authors and Sponsor’s role: Dr. Montgomery was involved in the initial planning of the MSHA. Dr. St. John and Dr. Montgomery conducted clinical examinations and planned these analyses. The sponsors played no role in interpreting the results.

This paper was presented at the American Geriatrics Society Annual meeting in Washington, DC, 2008.

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