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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Cognitive impairment and depression predict mortality in medically ill older adults | | Author(s) | Cynthia L Arfken, Peter A Lichtenberg, Manuel Tancer |
| Journal title | The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological sciences and Medical Sciences, vol 54A, no 3, March 1999 |
| Pages | pp M152-156 |
| Keywords | Mental disorder ; Depression ; Ill health ; Screening ; Death ; Correlation ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Depression and cognitive impairment are common in medically ill older adults, but few studies have investigated the roles of both in predicting mortality. The authors used a cohort of 667 consecutive patients aged 60+ admitted to a rehabilitation hospital, of whom 455 completed a standardised protocol measuring cognition (Dementia Rating Scale), depression (General Depression Scale - GDS), and disabilities (Functional Independence Measure). Burden of medical illnesses was measured with the Charlson Index. Those who did not complete the screening were more likely to die (24% vs 17%) during a 1-year follow-up. Of those who completed the screening, male sex, depression and more severe cognitive impairment predicted mortality independent of age, medical illnesses or disabilities. No interaction of cognitive impairment and depression was detected. In those subjects cognitively intact, moderate depression and male sex were independent risk factors for dying. In those without depression, male sex and elevated Charlson Index predicted mortality. Depression and cognitive impairment are independent predictors of 1-year mortality in this sub-group of medically ill older people. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-990825326 A |
| Classmark | E: ENR: CH: 3V: CW: 49: 7T |
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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