Old age medical patients screening positive for depression

The aim was to observe whether medical inpatients screening positive for depression using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) continue to screen positive following hospital discharge.

Participants aged 65 or over, were recruited from consecutive admissions to a city teaching hospital. Subjects had an Abbreviated Mental Test Score (AMTS) of seven or above and a GDS-15 score of five or above. Information was collected on past psychiatric history and living arrangements. Subjects were followed-up three months later and the GDS repeated.

Thirty subjects were recruited and 26 (87%) followed-up. Ten (38%) no longer scored positive on the GDS, and overall the mean GDS score decreased by two points (Z = 2.235 p < 0.05). Patients with a past psychiatric history or living alone were more likely to be depressed at follow-up. No participants were referred to the psychiatric service or started on antidepressant medication during the course of the study.

Depressive symptoms are likely to persist following hospital discharge, especially in those patients with a past psychiatric history. An understanding of the risk factors associated with persistent depressive symptoms is necessary if the patients appropriate for treatment are to be identified.