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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Depression in Europe
— geographical distribution among older people | | Author(s) | A T F Beekman, J R M Copeland, M E Dewey |
| Journal title | The British Journal of Psychiatry, vol 174, April 1999 |
| Pages | pp 312-321 |
| Keywords | Depression ; Cross cultural surveys ; Europe. |
| Annotation | This is the first report of results from the EURODEP Programme, and uses the AGECAT-GMS package to assess the prevalence of depression judged suitable for intervention in randomised samples of those aged 65 and over in nine European countries. Differences in prevalence are apparent: 8.8% in Iceland to 23.6% in Munich, Germany. When sub-cases and cases are added together, five high- and four low-scoring centres emerge. Women predominate over men. Proportions of sub-cases to cases revealed striking differences, but did not explain prevalence. There was no constant association between prevalence and age. A meta-analysis of 13,808 subjects gave an overall prevalence of 12.3%, 14.1% for women and 8.6% for men. Considerable variation occurs in the levels of depression across Europe, the cause for which is not immediately obvious. Case and sub-case levels taken together show greater variability, suggesting that it is not a matter of case/sub-case selection criteria, which were standardised by computer. Substantial levels of depression are shown, but 62%-82% of people had no depressive level. Opportunities for treatment exist. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-990427216 A |
| Classmark | ENR: 3KA: 74 |
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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