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Evaluation of a psychiatric day hospital program for elderly patients with mood disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2006

Corey S. Mackenzie ,
Marsha Rosenberg  and
Melissa Major
Corey S. Mackenzie
Affiliation:
Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology, OISE/University of Toronto, Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Marsha Rosenberg
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Baycrest Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Melissa Major
Affiliation:
York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Abstract

Background: Very little is known about the utility of psychiatric day hospitals for elderly adults with mood disorders. The objectives of this study were to evaluate a long-standing day-hospital program and to explore whether demographic and non-demographic patient characteristics were associated with treatment outcomes.

Method: We used t-tests to compare retrospective admission and discharge data for 708 patients over a 16-year period, and multiple regression to examine predictors of improvement.

Results: Depressed patients showed statistically and clinically significant improvements on the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. The number and severity of depressive symptoms at admission were strongly related to treatment outcomes. After controlling for initial levels of depression, demographic characteristics did not predict improvement, and axis I and II diagnoses modestly and inconsistently predicted improvement.

Conclusions: A biopsychosocially-focused day-hospital treatment program was associated with improvements in depression in a large sample of elderly adults with mood disorders. Except for depression severity at admission, patient characteristics had very little impact on treatment outcomes, suggesting that day hospital programs are beneficial for a wide range of depressed elderly adults.

Keywords

depressiongeriatric psychiatryday carepartial hospitalization
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , December 2006 , pp. 631 - 641
Copyright
International Psychogeriatric Association 2006

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