Untreated depressive symptoms significantly worsen quality of life in old age and may lead to the misdiagnosis of dement
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Annals of General Psychiatry Open Access
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Untreated depressive symptoms significantly worsen quality of life in old age and may lead to the misdiagnosis of dementia: a cross‑sectional study Viktor Voros1* , Sandor Fekete1, Tamas Tenyi1, Zoltan Rihmer2,3, Ilona Szili4 and Peter Osvath1
Abstract Background: 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. Methods: In 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. Results: Males 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. Conclusions: Depressive 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. Keywords: Quality of Life (QoL), Old age, Depression, Dementia, Pseudo-dementia Background In our aging society, not only the maintenance of health of old people, but also the restoration of their Quality of Life (QoL) has become an important goal. Therefore, many studies aimed to detect factors influencing QoL, as those may have preventive and therapeutic significance. *Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Pecs, Pecs, Hungary Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Several studies have demonstrated the role of depressive disorders and cognitive impairment in the background of elevated mortality and decreasing QoL in old age [1–4]. The close correlation between depression and dementia is well-known, however the link between them is still unclear, and a subject of intensive research. According to a recent meta-analysis, depression in old age can be an important risk factor for several types of dementia [5]. Furthermore, it was suggested that the same risk factors may be present in the background of dementia and de
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