Depression in late life: age of onset as marker of a subtype

Late-onset depression may be pathogenetically and prognostically distinct from early-onset, recurrent affective disorder. The authors reviewed records of 94 consecutively admitted unipolar major depressives over the age of 60 years, divided subjects into groups based on their age of onset, and examined demographic and clinical features. Late-onset elderly depressives had a lower incidence of family history of affective illness, longer hospital stay, and more residual symptoms at discharge. However, there was no demonstrable relationship between age of onset and presence of psychosis, melancholia, medical illness, symptom severity at admission, or indicators of neuropathology. Although late-onset elderly depressives did less well than those with early-onset illness, the data do not support the notion of late-onset depression as a distinct pathological process.