Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T08:19:16.941Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Increased prevalence of depression in cohorts of the elderly: an 11-year follow-up in the general population – the HUNT study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2011

Hanne Indermo Solhaug ,
Elisabeth Bratland Romuld ,
Ulla Romild  and
Eystein Stordal
Hanne Indermo Solhaug*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Namsos Hospital, Namsos, Norway
Elisabeth Bratland Romuld
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Namsos Hospital, Namsos, Norway
Ulla Romild
Affiliation:
Department of Research and Development, Health Trust Nord-Trøndelag, Levanger, Norway Swedish National Institute of Public Health, Östersund, Sweden
Eystein Stordal
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Namsos Hospital, Namsos, Norway Department of Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Hanne Indermo Solhaug, Department of Psychiatry, Namsos Hospital, 7800 Namsos, Norway. Phone: +47 74 21 56 20; Fax: +47 74 21 54 53. Email: hanne.solhaug@hnt.no.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: Depression is a common disorder in late life. As the elderly population continues to grow worldwide, depression is also likely to become an increasing health problem. The aim of this study was to examine changes in prevalence of depression in various age cohorts over an 11-year period.

Methods: This study involved two cross-sectional studies (HUNT 2 and HUNT 3) of all adult inhabitants of the Norwegian county of Nord-Trøndelag with an 11 year-interval between the two studies. The participants aged 45 years or above at HUNT 2 and with a valid depression rating at both HUNT 2 (baseline) and HUNT 3 (follow-up) (N = 16517), were included and divided into five-year age cohorts. Depression was measured by the depression subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D).

Results: A significant increase in depression was found in all age cohorts from 76 years at follow-up, with the greatest increase (9.6%) in the oldest age cohort (86–90 years at follow-up). The incidence of depression is increasing with age, with over 10% new cases in all age cohorts aged 81 years and above at follow-up. About 5% of the participants in all age cohorts reported depression at both measure points, and there is a decrease in recovery from depression from baseline to follow-up with increasing age.

Conclusions: We found increased prevalence of depression and a large number of new cases of depression in the oldest age cohorts.

Keywords

depressionprevalenceold agecohort-study
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , January 2012 , pp. 151 - 158
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beekman, A. T. F. et al. (2002). The natural history of late-life depression: a 6-year prospective study in the community. Archives of General Psychiatry, 59, 605–611.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bergdahl, E. et al. (2005). Depression among the oldest old: the Umeå 85+ study. International Psychogeriatrics, 17, 557–575. doi. 10.1017/S1041610205002267.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Birrer, R. B. and Vemuri, S. P. (2004). Depression in later life: a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. American Family Physician, 15, 2375–2382.Google Scholar
Bjelland, I., Dahl, A. A., Haug, T. T. and Neckelmann, D. (2002). The validity of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: an updated literature review. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 52, 69–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bremmer, M. A., Hoogendijk, W. J. G., Deeg, D. J. H., Schoevers, R. A., Schalk, B. W. M. and Beekman, A. T. F. (2006). Depression in older age is a risk factor for first ischemic cardiac events. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14, 523–530.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cole, M. G., Bellavance, F. and Mansour, A. (1999). Prognosis of depression in elderly community and primary care populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 1182–1189.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hansen, V., Jacobsen, B. K. and Arnesen, E. (2001). Prevalence of serious psychiatric morbidity in attenders and non-attenders to a health survey of a general population. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 891–894.Google Scholar
Heikkinen, R. L. and Kauppinen, M. (2004). Depressive symptoms in late life: a 10-year follow-up. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 38, 239–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrmann, C. (1997). International experiences with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: a review of validation data and clinical results. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 42, 17–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmen, J. et al. (2003). The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study 1995–97 (HUNT2): objectives, contents, methods and participation. Norsk Epidemiologi, 13, 19–32.Google Scholar
HUNT Research Centre (2008). The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study. HUNT Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Verdal: HUNT Research Centre. Available at http://www.hunt.ntnu.no.Google Scholar
Jorm, A. F. (2000). Does old age reduce the risk of anxiety and depression? A review of epidemiological studies across the adult life span. Psychological Medicine, 30, 11–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kessler, R. C., Birnbaum, H., Bromet, E., Hwang, I., Sampson, N. and Shahly, V. (2010). Age differences in major depression: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Psychological Medicine, 40, 225–237. doi: 10.1017/S0033291709990213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klerman, G. L. and Weissmann, M. M. (1989). Increasing rates of depression. JAMA, 261, 2229–2235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lewinsohn, P. M., Rohde, P., Seeley, J. R. and Fischer, S. A. (1993). Age-cohort changes in the lifetime occurrence of depression and other mental disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 102, 110–120.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Licht-Strunk, E., van der Windt, D. A. W. M., van Marwijk, H. W. J., de Haan, M. and Beekman, A. T. F. (2007). The prognosis of depression in older patients in general practice and the community: a systematic review. Familiy Practice, 24, 168–180. doi: 0.1093/fampra/cml071.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Licht-Strunk, E., van Marwijk, H. W. J., Hoekstra, T., Twisk, J. W. R., de Haan, M. and Beekman, A. T. F. (2009). Outcome of depression in later life in primary care: longitudinal cohort study with three years follow-up. BMJ, 338, a3079. doi: 10.1136/bmj.a3079.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luppa, M., Heinrich, S., Angermeyer, M. C., König, H. H. and Riedel-Heller, S. F. (2007). Cost-of-illness studies of depression: a systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 98, 29–43. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2006.07.017.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mykletun, A., Stordal, E. and Dahl, A. A. (2001). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS): factor structure, item analyses and internal consistency in a large population. British Journal of Psychiatry, 179, 540–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newmann, J. P, Klein, M. H., Jensen, J. E. and Essex, M. J. (1996). Depressive symptom experiences among older women: a comparison of alternative measurement approaches. Psychology and Aging, 11, 112–126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pálsson, S. P., Östling, S. and Skoog, I. (2001). The incidence of first-onset depression in a population followed from the age of 70 to 85. Psychological Medicine, 31, 1159–1168. doi: 10.1017/S0033291701004524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penninx, B. W. J. H., Geerlings, S. W., Deeg, D. J. H., van Eijk, J. T. M., van Tilburg, W. and Beekman, A. T. F. (1999). Minor and major depression and the risk of death in older persons. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56, 889–995.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schulberg, H. C., Katon, , Simon, W., Rush, G. E., , A. J. (1998). Treating major depression in primary care practice. Archives of General Psychiatry, 55, 1121–1127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scott, K. M. et al. (2008). Age patterns in the prevalence of DSM-IV depressive/anxiety disorders with and without physical co-morbidity. Psychological Medicine, 38, 1659–1669. doi: 10.1017/S0033291708003413.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Snaith, P. (1993). Anhedonia: a neglected symptom of psychopatology. Psychological Medicine, 23, 957–966.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stordal, E., Bjartveit Krüger, M., Dahl, N. H., Krüger, Ø. Mykletun, A. and Dahl, A. A. (2001). Depression in relation to age and gender in the general population: the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT). Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia, 104, 210–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van't Veer-Tazelaar, P. J. et al. (2008). Depression in old age (75+): the PIKO study. Journal of Affective Disorder, 106, 295–299. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2007.07.004.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wells, K. B. et al. (1989). The functioning and well-being of depressed patients: results from the medical outcomes study. JAMA, 262, 914–919.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wickramaratne, P. J., Weissmann, M. M., Leaf, P. J. and Holford, T. R. (1989). Age, period and cohort effects on the risk of major depression: results from five United States communities. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 42, 333–343.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed