Abstract
BackgroundSeveral studies demonstrated the role of depressive mood and cognitive impairment in the background of elevated mortality and decreased Quality of Life (QoL) in old age. Our aim was to assess depressive and cognitive symptoms among older people in order to determine if those are recognized and treated or not, to elucidate the association between them and to investigate their impact on QoL.MethodsIn the framework of the ICT4Life project self-administered questionnaires and clinical screening tools were used to assess QoL, depressive symptoms and cognitive functions of 60 older persons over the age of 65.ResultsMales found to be depressed (53.8 vs. 40.4%) and cognitively declined (53.8 vs. 48.9%) more frequently; and had higher scores on the depression (6.85 vs. 5.32) and lower on the QoL (47.38 vs. 50.19) scales. Depressed older persons had lower cognitive levels (24.39 vs. 21.52) and their QoL was significantly poorer (53.97 vs. 43.85) than that of the non-depressed subjects. Depressive symptoms were detected in almost half of the older adults (43.9%), and the majority (80.77%) did not receive antidepressant medication.ConclusionsDepressive and cognitive symptoms found to be common among older people, but were not recognized and treated in most cases. Close correlation between depression and cognitive impairment was also confirmed, as well as the key role of depression in the background of pseudo-dementia and QoL decline. Early recognition of depressive symptoms is important not only to treat the underlying mood disorder, but also to improve QoL of older persons.
Highlights
Several studies demonstrated the role of depressive mood and cognitive impairment in the background of elevated mortality and decreased Quality of Life (QoL) in old age
Among mental disorders in the patients’ history, addictions were more common among males (15.4% vs. 0%), while depression (21.3% vs. 15.4%) and dementia (21.3% vs. 7.7%) in females
The common depressive symptoms in older adults contributes to poorer QoL and may lead to the misdiagnosis of dementia
Summary
Several studies demonstrated the role of depressive mood and cognitive impairment in the background of elevated mortality and decreased Quality of Life (QoL) in old age. Our aim was to assess depressive and cognitive symptoms among older people in order to determine if those are recognized and treated or not, to elucidate the association between them and to investigate their impact on QoL. Several studies have demonstrated the role of depressive disorders and cognitive impairment in the background of elevated mortality and decreasing QoL in old age [1,2,3,4]. According to a recent meta-analysis, depression in old age can be an important risk factor for several types of dementia [5]. It was suggested that the same risk factors may be present in the background of dementia and depression in elderly, or even the same
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