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Lifetime Risk of Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2018

Hans-Ulrich Wittchen ,
Bärbel Knäuper  and
Ronald C. Kessler
Hans-Ulrich Wittchen*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, München, Germany
Bärbel Knäuper
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, München, Germany
Ronald C. Kessler
Affiliation:
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
*
Professor H.-U. Wittchen, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Clinical Institute, Kraepelinstrasse 10, 80804 München, Germany
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Abstract

Over the past decade, major epidemiological studies have been conducted to determine the prevalence of depressive syndromes, primarily major depression or dysthymia. The highest prevalences occur in younger cohorts (18–29 years); considerably lower prevalences are found in older individuals (45 years and above), with the lowest in those aged 65 and older. Several studies have confirmed an increase in the cumulative lifetime estimates of major depression in successively younger birth cohorts during this century. At the same time, questions have been raised about the low prevalence of depression in the elderly, including the role of confounding factors (e.g. differential morbidity and response-biased memory). Standardised diagnostic assessment procedures may be insufficiently adapted for use in the elderly. It has also been recognised that a substantial number of elderly individuals suffer from clinically relevant symptoms of depression but do not meet the criteria for major depression. Future research will be required to elucidate fully the apparently changing rates of depression.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 165 , Issue S26: Depression: Challenge for the '90s , December 1994 , pp. 16 - 22
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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