Prevalence of mental illness in a rehabilitation unit for older adults
D C Shaha, M Evansb, D Kinga
a Department
of Medicine for the Elderly, Wirral Hospitals NHS Trust, Wirral, UK, b Elderly Mental
Health Directorate, Wirral and West Cheshire Community NHS Trust, UK
Correspondence to: Dr DC Shah, Victoria Central Hospital, Mill Lane, Wallasey, Merseyside L44 5UF, UK
Submitted 15 July 1998;
Accepted 6 September 1999
The prevalence of psychiatric disorders was studied in 78 elderly people in a rehabilitation unit for older adults. The
patients were assessed using the Evans Liverpool depression rating
scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale and Mini-Mental State
Examination. Twenty-eight (35.9%) patients were found to be depressed,
15 of these also had raised anxiety. Thirty-one (41.0%) patients had significant cognitive impairment and 14 of these had associated depression. Only 33 (42%) had no evidence of either cognitive impairment or mood disorder. On discharge, 20 (25.6%) patients were on
antidepressant treatment but only 50% of those had this diagnosis
recorded on the discharge summary. Our results showed higher prevalence
of depression in this situation compared with the reported prevalence
of 20-30% in the acute hospital setting. We recommend that all
patients undergoing rehabilitation should be routinely screened for
depression as it is common and treatment will improve the overall outcome.
Keywords: depression; elderly; rehabilitation; psychiatric morbidity; screening
© 2000 by The Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine
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