Centre for Policy on Ageing



Does depression in old age increase only cardiovascular mortality? — the Leiden 85+ Study
Author(s)	David J Vinkers, Max L Stek, Jacobijn Gussekloo
Journal title	International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 19, no 9, September 2004
Pages	pp 852-857
Source	http://www.interscience.wiley.com
Keywords	Depression ; Cardiovascular diseases ; Death ; Longitudinal surveys ; Netherlands.
Annotation	The authors prospectively followed 500 subjects aged 85+ within the population-based Leiden 85+ Study in the Netherlands. Depressive symptoms were assessed annually within the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale 9GDS-15). Mortality risks were estimated in a Cox proportional hazards model with the annual assessment of depression (GDS-15, greater or equal to 4 points) as a time-dependent covariate. During 1654 person-years of follow-up (mean per person 3.2 years), depression was associated with a two-fold increase of all-cause mortality that was not explained by comorbid conditions. Overall, the study finds that depression in old age contributes to an increase of both cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortality. Motivational depletion may play an important role in the increased mortality on older people with depression. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-041130218 A
Classmark	ENR: CQ: CW: 3J: 76H
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.