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The prevalence of depression in an acute geriatric medical assessment unit
Author(s) -
O'Riordan Thomas G.,
Hayes James P.,
Shelley Rory,
O'Neill Desmond,
Walsh J. Bernard,
Coakley Davis
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/gps.930040106
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , geriatric depression scale , medicine , antidepressant , geriatric psychiatry , medical unit , medical illness , geriatrics , psychiatry , population , medical assessment , disease , depressive symptoms , physical therapy , emergency medicine , illness behavior , anxiety , economics , macroeconomics , environmental health
One hundred and eleven patients admitted to an acute medical geriatric assessment unit were screened for depression using the Geriatric Depression Scale questionnaire. All patients with high scores were further assessed by a consultant psychiatrist in a semistructured interview. Of the patients screened, 23.4% had depression of a clinically significant degree and 13.5% were judged to need specific antidepressant medication. 10.8% of the population had depressive illness superimposed on organic brain disease.