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Age of Onset and Medical Illness in Older Depressed Inpatients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2005

Jeffrey M. Lyness ,
Yeates Conwell ,
Deborah A. King ,
Christopher Cox  and
Eric D. Caine
Jeffrey M. Lyness
Affiliation:
University of Rochester-NIMH Clinical Research Center for the Study of Psychopathology of the Elderly, Rochester, New York, U.S.A.
Yeates Conwell
Affiliation:
University of Rochester-NIMH Clinical Research Center for the Study of Psychopathology of the Elderly, Rochester, New York, U.S.A.
Deborah A. King
Affiliation:
University of Rochester-NIMH Clinical Research Center for the Study of Psychopathology of the Elderly, Rochester, New York, U.S.A.
Christopher Cox
Affiliation:
University of Rochester-NIMH Clinical Research Center for the Study of Psychopathology of the Elderly, Rochester, New York, U.S.A.
Eric D. Caine
Affiliation:
University of Rochester-NIMH Clinical Research Center for the Study of Psychopathology of the Elderly, Rochester, New York, U.S.A.
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Abstract

Age of onset of depressive episodes may serve as a useful marker of pathogenetic heterogeneity in late-life depression. Medical illness may play an important role in the pathogenesis of depression in the elderly, but its relationship to age of onset has not been carefully examined. We prospectively studied 110 older inpatients with DSM-III-R major depression. Using multiple regression techniques, we found that medical illness was not independently associated with age of onset. Independent predictors of older age of onset were age, male sex, absence of substance abuse history, and absence of melancholia. Our discussion reconsiders the usefulness of age of onset as a primary research variable for elucidating heterogeneity of late-life depression.

Type
Research and Reviews
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , March 1995 , pp. 63 - 73
Copyright
© 1995 Springer Publishing Company

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