Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T00:47:02.902Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Affective Disorders Among Elderly General Practice Patients

A Two-Phase Survey in Brescia, Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

C. Turrina ,
R. Caruso ,
R. Este ,
F. Lucchi ,
G. Fazzari ,
M. E. Dewey  and
A. Ermentini
C. Turrina*
Affiliation:
Cattedra di Clinica Psichiatrica, Università di Brescia
R. Caruso
Affiliation:
Cattedra di Clinica Psichiatrica, Università di Brescia
R. Este
Affiliation:
Cattedra di Clinica Psichiatrica, Università di Brescia
F. Lucchi
Affiliation:
Cattedra di Clinica Psichiatrica, Università di Brescia
G. Fazzari
Affiliation:
III C.P.S. via Manara 7, Brescia
M. E. Dewey
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Liverpool, PO Box 147, Liverpool
A. Ermentini
Affiliation:
Cattedra di Clinica Psichiatrica, Università di Brescia
*
Dr Cesare Turrina, Cattedra di Clinica Psichiatrica, Dipartimento Materno-Infantile, Università di Brescia, P. le Spedali Civili 1, 25125 Brescia, Italy
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

We investigated the prevalence of depression among 255 elderly general practice patients and the practitioners' performance in identifying depression.

Method

Elderly patients attending 14 general practices entered a screening phase with GHQ-12 and MMSE. Those positive were then interviewed with GMS and HAS.

Results

DSM-III-R major depression affected 22.4%, dysthymic disorder 6.3%, not otherwise specified (n.o.s.) depression 7.1 %. General practitioners performed fairly well: identification index 88.4%, accuracy 0.49, bias 1.85.

Conclusions

Depression was markedly high. A selective progression of depressed elderly from the community to general practitioners is implied.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 165 , Issue 4 , October 1994 , pp. 533 - 537
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1994 

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

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM-III-R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Boardman, A. P. (1987) The General Health Questionnaire and the detection of emotional disorder by general practitioners. A replicated study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 373–381.Google Scholar
Copeland, J. R. M., Kelleher, M. J., Gourlay, A. J., et al (1976) A semistructured clinical interview for the assessment of diagnosis and mental state in the elderly. The Geriatric Mental State Schedule. 1. Development and reliability. Psychological Medicine, 6, 439–449.Google Scholar
Copeland, J. R. M., Dewey, M. E. & Griffiths-Jones, H. M. (1986) A computerized psychiatric diagnostic system and case nomenclature for elderly subjects: GMS and AGECAT. Psychological Medicine, 16, 89–99.Google Scholar
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, F. E. & McHugh, P. R. (1975) ‘Mini-Mental State’: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. P. (1972) The Detection of Psychiatric Illness by Questionnaire. Maudsley Monographs no. 21. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. P., Steele, J., Smith, C., et al (1980) Training family doctors to recognise psychiatric illness with increased accuracy. Lancet, 2, 521–523.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. P. & Huxley, P. (1992) Common Mental Disorders. London: Tavistock/Routledge.Google Scholar
Marks, J. N., Goldberg, D. P. & Hillier, V. F. (1979) Determinants of the ability of general practitioners to detect psychiatric illness. Psychological Medicine, 9, 227–353.Google Scholar
Turrina, C., Siciliani, O., Dewey, M. E., et al (1992) Psychiatric disorders among elderly patients attending a geriatric medical day-hospital: prevalence according to clinical diagnosis (DSM-III-R) and AGECAT. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 7, 499–504.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.