Can depression and depressive symptoms predict mortality at 18-month follow-up in acutely medically ill inpatients over the age of 80 years?
✍ Scribed by Ajit Shah
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 82 KB
- Volume
- 13
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0885-6230
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Background:
The prevalence of depression in acutely medically ill elderly inpatients is high. depression in the elderly is associated with increased mortality.
Method:
The association between mortality at 18-month follow-up and depression, depressive symptoms and demographic variables at the outset in a cohort of acutely medically ill elderly inpatients was examined.
Results:
The mortality at 18-month follow-up was 47%. depression, depressive symptoms and demographic variables were not associated with mortality.
Conclusion:
An important explanation of this absence of association between mortality and depression may be an artifact due to patient selection designed to resemble normal clinical practice.