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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Review of community prevalence of depression in later life | | Author(s) | A T F Beekman, J R M Copeland, M J Prince |
| Journal title | The British Journal of Psychiatry, vol 174, April 1999 |
| Pages | pp 307-311 |
| Keywords | Depression ; Living in the community ; Social surveys ; Research Reviews. |
| Annotation | Despite considerable interest, there is no consensus regarding the prevalence of depression in later life (at age 55 and over). A systematic review of community-based studies, in which literature was analysed by level of caseness at which depression was defined and measured, found 34 studies eligible for inclusion. Reported prevalence rates vary enormously (0.4%-35%). Arranged according to level of caseness, major depression is relatively rare among older people (weighted average prevalence 1.8%), minor depression is more common (weighted average prevalence 9.8%), while all depressive syndromes deemed clinically relevant yield an average prevalence of 13.5%. There is consistent evidence for higher prevalence rates for women and among older people living under adverse socio-economic circumstances. Methodological differences between studies preclude firm conclusions about cross-cultural and geographical variation. Improving the comparability of epidemiological research constitutes an important step forward. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-990427215 A |
| Classmark | ENR: K4: 3F: 3A:6KC |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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