Age and Ageing, Vol 28, 35-38, Copyright © 1999 by British Geriatrics Society
J Meara, E Mitchelmore and P Hobson
OBJECTIVES: To assess the level of depressive symptomatology in a community
based group of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and their carers and
to investigate the patient characteristics that might predict carer
distress. METHODS: The GDS-15 geriatric depression scale was used to
measure self-rated depressive symptoms in a group of 132 subjects with
clinically probable PD randomly selected from a community- based disease
register. Disease severity was assessed by the Webster scale and cognitive
function by the CAMCOG test. Carers of the patients, who in this study were
all spouses, were also asked to complete the GDS-15. RESULTS: A total of
64% of our group of patients and 34% of carers scored within the
'depressed' range on the GDS-15. Patients with high levels of depressive
symptoms tended to have more severe disease, disease of longer duration and
more impaired cognitive function. The GDS score of the carer was best
predicted by the GDS score of the patient being cared for. Less than 10% of
patients and carers were being treated with antidepressant medication.
CONCLUSIONS: This community-based study confirms the high level of
depressive symptoms in PD suggested by hospital- and clinic-based studies.
Depression in patients appears to be related to disease severity and
cognitive impairment. An important determinant of carer distress and mood
disorder, as reflected by the GDS score, appears to be the level of
depression expressed by the patient being cared for. Despite high levels of
depressive symptoms in both patients and carers, very few subjects were in
receipt of antidepressant drug therapy.
ARTICLES
Use of the GDS-15 geriatric depression scale as a screening instrument for depressive symptomatology in patients with Parkinson's disease and their carers in the community
University Department of Geriatric Medicine, Glan Clwyd Hospital, Rhyl, North Wales, UK.
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