Abstract
The prevalence rates of mood disorders according to the DSM- III -R criteria in the community elderly were investigated with structured interviews conducted by psychiatrists. The subjects were 1,965 randomly selected residents aged 65 years or more who lived in Nagai City, Japan. In the first phase, a questionnaire including the short form of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was distributed to all subjects. In the second phase, all persons scoring 6 points or more on the GDS and approximately half as many of these persons randomly selected from the remaining respondents scoring 5 points or less were examined by psychiatrists using the A and D modules of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R. The 1-month prevalence rates of major depression and bipolar disorder were estimated to be 0.9% and 0.0%, and the current prevalence of dysthymia was estimated to be 0.5%. By using additional unstructured clinical interviews, we also found the prevalence rates of adjustment disorder with depressed mood and other types of depression to be 3.8% and 2.5%. For these categories of depression, prevalence rates did not differ significantly by sex or age group, except that the prevalence of adjustment disorder with depressed mood was significantly higher in women than in men.
Key Words: prevalence, DSM- III -R, depression, elderly, Structured clinical interview for DSM-III-R (SCID)
References
- 1).Ministry of Health and Welfare. Annual report on health and welfare 1991–1992. Tokyo: Japan International Corporation of Welfare services, 1992.
- 2).Dohrenwend BP, Dohrenwend BS. Perspectives on the past and future of psychiatric epidemiology. AJPH 1982;72: 1271–9. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed]
- 3).American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (third ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association, 1980.
- 4).Robins LN, Helzer JE, Croughan J, Ratcliff KS. National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule. Arc Gen Psychiatry 1981;38:381–9. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 5).Robins LN, Regier DA. Psychiatric Disorders in America: the Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study. New York: Free Press, 1991.
- 6).American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed. revised). Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association, 1987.
- 7).Henderson AS, Jorm AF, Mackinnon A, Christensen H, Scott LR, Korten AE, et al. The prevalence of depressive disorders and the distribution of depressive symptoms in later life: a survey using Draft ICD-10 and DSM-III-R. Psychol Med 1993;23: 719–29. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 8).Kawakami N, Ido M, Shimizu H. Prevalence and correlates of major depressive episode among the elderly in a community in Japan. Nihon Koshu Eisei Zasshi 1995;42: 792–8. [PubMed]
- 9).Skoog I, Nilsson L, Landahl S, Steen B. Mental disorders and the use of psychotropic drugs in an 85-year-old urban population. Int Psychogeriatrics 1993;5: 33–48. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 10).Girling DM, Barkley C, Paykel ES, Gehlhaar E, Brayne C, Gill C, et al. The prevalence of depression in a cohort of the very elderly. Journal of Affective Disorders 1995;34: 319–29. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 11).Komahashi T, Ohmori K, Nakano T, Fujinuma H, Higashimoto T, Nakaya M, et al. Epidemiological survey of dementia and depression among the aged living in the community in Japan. Jpn J Psychiatry and Neurology 1994;48: 517–26. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 12).Lobo A, Saz P, Marcos G, Dia J, De-la-Camara C. The prevalence of dementia and depression in the elderly community in a southern European population. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1995;52: 497–506. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 13).Spitzer RL. Psychiatric diagnosis: are clinicians still necessary? Compr Psychiatry 1983;24: 399–411. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 14).Yesavage JA. Geriatric Depression Scale. Psychopharmacol Bulletin 1988;24: 709–11. [PubMed]
- 15).Niino N, Imaizumi T, Kawakami N. A Japanese translation of the Geriatric Depression Scale. Clin Gerontol 1991;10: 85–7. [DOI]
- 16).Spitzer MD, Williams JBW, Gibbon M, First MB. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM- III-R. Tokyo: Igaku-shoin, 1992. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 17).Karasawa A. Clinical criteria for grading of dementia. Ronenki Chihou 1989:3:81–5.
- 18).Sheikh JI, Yesavage JA. Geriatric Depression Scale(GDS): Recent evidence and development of a shorter version. Clin Gerontol 1986;5: 165–73. [DOI]
- 19).Burke WJ, Roccaforte WH, Wengel SP. The short form of the Geriatric Depression Scale: A comparison with the 30-item form. J Geriatr Psychiat Neurol 1991;4: 173–8. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 20).Roth M, Tym E, Mountjoy CQ, Huppert FA, Hendrie H, Verma S, et al. CAMDEX: A standardised instrument for the diagnosis of mental disorder in the elderly with special reference to the early detection of dementia. Brit J Psychiat 1986;149: 698–709. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 21).Skoog I, Nilsson L, Palmertz B, Andreasson LA, Svanborg A. A population-based study of dementia in 85-year-olds. N Eng J Med 1993;328: 153–8. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 22).EatonWW, Kramer M, Anthony JC, Dryman A, Shapiro S, Locke BZ. The incidence of specific DIS/DSM-III mental disorders: data from the NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program. Acta Psychiatr Scand 1989;79: 163–78. [DOI] [PubMed]
- 23).Copeland JRM, Dewey ME, Wood N, Searle R, Davidson IA, McWilliam C. Range of mental illness among the elderly in the community: prevalence in Liverpool using the GMS-AGECAT package. Brit J Psychiat 1987;150:815–23. [DOI] [PubMed]