Prevalentie en incidentie van depressie in Drentse verzorgingshuizen: Hoger dan bij bejaarden in de algemene bevolking, maar lager dan in andere verzorgingshuizen

Objective. To determine the prevalence and incidence of major and minor depression in residential homes for the elderly in Drenthe, the Netherlands. Design. Cross-sectional and longitudinal study. Method. In eleven residential homes for the elderly in Drenthe, the point-prevalence rate of depressive disorders was determined at baseline (n = 479; mean age = 85 yrs). From the baseline-sample, 295 non-depressed subjects were available to estimate the incidence rate after six months. The diagnostic procedure consisted of two steps. Firstly, all of the subjects were screened for depression using the 'Geriatric depression scale'. In the second step, those with a score > 10 were interviewed using the 'Schedules for clinical assessment in neuropsychiatry' (SCAN) to assess whether there were depressive disorders according to DSM IV criteria. Results. The prevalence of major depression was 4.1% (95% CI: 2.3-5.9) and the same rate was found for minor depression. The 6-month incidence of major and minor depression combined was 2.1% (95% CI: 0.5-3.7). Conclusion. The prevalence rate for depressive disorders obtained in our study, was twice as high as reported for the advanced elderly in the general population, whereas the rates were lower than those usually found in residential homes.