Centre for Policy on Ageing



Depression in primary care — 1: Elderly patients' disclosure of depressive symptoms to their doctors
Author(s)	Daniel W O'Connor, Richard Rosewarne, Ann Bruce
Journal title	International Psychogeriatrics, vol 13, no 3, September 2001
Pages	pp 359-366
Keywords	Depression ; Symptoms ; Patients ; Communication ; General practitioners ; Australia.
Annotation	In a survey of 1,021 patients aged 70+ of 30 general practitioners (GPs) in Melbourne, Australia, the Canberra Interview for the Elderly was used to gauge the prevalence of depressive symptoms, the frequency with which patients informed GPs of their symptoms, and GPs' recognition of major depressive episodes. Logistic regression analysis showed that symptom disclosure was associated in descending order of importance with higher depressive scores, previous contact with a psychiatrist, and female gender. Even so, 48% of those with ICD-10 moderate or severe depressive episode had not reported any current complaints to their doctor at the time of interview. Men and those patients lacking "psychological mindedness" may be at special risk of depression. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-020215206 A
Classmark	ENR: CT: LF: U: QT6: 7YA
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.