Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T08:32:37.470Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Gospel Oak Study: prevalence rates of dementia, depression and activity limitation among elderly residents in Inner London

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Gill Livingston ,
Angel Hawkins ,
Nori Graham ,
Bob Blizard  and
Anthony Mann
Gill Livingston*
Affiliation:
Academic Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, London
Angel Hawkins
Affiliation:
Academic Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, London
Nori Graham
Affiliation:
Academic Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, London
Bob Blizard
Affiliation:
Academic Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, London
Anthony Mann
Affiliation:
Academic Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, London
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Gill Livingston, Academic Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, London NW3 2QG.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

The steps to setting up a population register of elderly residents are described. Based upon this, 87·2% of the elderly residents of an inner-city electoral area were screened for memory disorder, depression and activity limitation using the Short CARE. Contact with medical and social agencies was also recorded; 4·7% were classed as cases by the dementia diagnostic scale, sufferers being older and not living alone. Of the residents 15·9% were classed as depressed, this state being more prevalent in those not currently married. The depresse were, in contrast to the demented residents, likely to be in recent contact with hospital and general practitioner. Thirty-two per cent of the population showed impairment in daily activity, these individuals were usually older, not married and receiving hospital care. Sleep disorder and compliant of many somatic symptoms were associated with a diagnosis of depression. In contrast, most respondents with a subjective complaint of memory disorder, which was common in this population, were neither suffering from depression nor dementia.

With this accurate sampling frame and a good response rate, the prevalence rate of clinical depression must be seen as disturbingly high. The prevalence rate of dementia approximated to that of other surveys. This study also indicated that general practitioners' lists may be inaccurate and that non-responders to first approaches for interview, although similar in demographic features to those responding, may contain among them many suffering from dementia.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , February 1990 , pp. 137 - 146
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bergener, M., Husser, J., Kähler, H. D. & Mehne, P. (1979). Die gesundliche und soziale situation älterer Menschen in der Gross-stadt. (Health and social situation of the urban elderly). Kohlhammer: Stuttgart.Google Scholar
Brayne, C. & Calloway, P. (1989). An epidemiological study of dementia in a rural population of elderly. British Journal of Psychiatry (in the press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, M., Clarke, S., Odell, A. & Jagger, C. (1984). The elderly at home: health and social states. Health Trends 16, 3–7.Google Scholar
Cooper, B. & Bickel, H. (1984). Population screening and the early detection of dementing disorders in old age: a review. Psychological Medicine 14, 81–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coperland, J. R. M., Dewey, M. E., Wood, N., Searle, R., Davidson, I. A. & McWilliam, C. (1987). Range of mental illness among the elderly in the community. Prevalence in Liverpool using the GMS-AGECAT package. British Journal of Psychiatry 150, 815–823.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Golden, R. R., Teresi, J. A. & Gurland, B. J. (1984). Development of indicator scales for the Comprehensive Assessment and Referral Evaluation (CARE) interview schedule. Journal of Gerontology 39, 138–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Griffiths, R. A., Good, W. R., Watson, N. P., O'Donnell, H. F., Fell, P. J. & Shakespeare, J. M. (1987). Depression, dementia & disability in the elderly. British Journal of Psychiatry 150, 482–493.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gurland, B. J., Cross, P.DeFiguendo, J., Shannan, H., Mann, A. H., Jenkins, R., Bennett, R., Wilder, D., Wright, H., Killepfer, E., Godlove, C., Thompson, P., Ross, M. & Deming, W. E. (1979). A cross-national comparison of the institutionalized elderly in the cities of New York and London. Psychological Medicine 9, 781–788.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gurland, B.J., Copeland, J. R. M., Kelleher, M. J., Kuriansky, J., Sharpe, L. & Dean, L. (1983). The Mind and Mood of Ageing: the Mental Health problems of the community Elderly in New York and London. Haworth Press: New York and Croom Helm: London.Google Scholar
Gurland, B. J., Golden, R. R., Teresi, J. A. & Challop, J. (1984). The SHORT-CARE: an efficient instrument for the assessment of depression, dementia and disability. Journal of Gerontology 39, 166–169.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hampstead Health Authority Community Health Unit (12 1985). Identifying needs. To have and have not.Google Scholar
Henderson, A. S. & Kay, D. W. K. (1984). The epidemiology of mental disorders in the aged. In Handbook of Studies in Psychiatry and Old Age (ed. Kay, D. W. K. and Burrows, G.), pp. 53–69. Elsevier: Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Jorm, A. F., Korten, A. E. & Henderson, A. S. (1987). The prevalence of dementia: a quantitative integration of the literature. Acta Psychiatrica Scandanavica 76, 465–479.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kay, D. W. K., Beamish, P. & Roth, M. (1964). Old age mental disorders in Newcastle upon Tyne. Part 1: A study of prevalence. British Journal of Psychiatry 110, 146–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kay, D. W. K., Henderson, A. S., Scott, R., Wilson, J., Rickwood, D. & Grayson, D. A. (1985). Dementia and depression among the elderly living in the Hobart community: the effect of the diagnostic criteria on the prevalence rates. Psychological Medicine 15, 771–778.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morgan, K., Dallosso, H. M., Arie, T., Byrne, E. J., Jones, R., and Waite, J. (1987). Mental health and psychological well being among the old and very old living at home. British Journal of Psychiatry 150, 801–807.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mowery, B. J. & Burvill, P. W. (1988). A study of mild dementia in the community using a wide range of diagnostic criteria. British Journal of Psychiatry 158, 328–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (1985). Final mid-year population estimates.Google Scholar
ten Horn, G. H. M. M. (1985). The elderly in the mental health services of twenty-one European pilot study areas. Acta Psychiatrica Scandanavica 72, 188–192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilcock, G. K. (1988). The challenge of Alzheimer's Disease – no longer a silent epidemic. Health Trends 20, 17–20.Google ScholarPubMed