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Medical illness burden, trait neuroticism, and depression in older primary care patients
J M Lyness1, P R Duberstein, D A King
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, NY, USA. Jeffrey_Lyness@urmc.rochester.edu
Objective:
The authors tested the hypotheses that medical illness burden is independently associated with depression and that this association is moderated by neuroticism.
Method:
Multiple regression techniques were used to determine the independent associations of medical burden and neuroticism with depression in a group of 196 subjects, 60 years of age and older, recruited from primary care settings.
Results:
Medical burden and neuroticism were independently associated with major depression, depressive symptoms, and psychiatric dysfunction.
Conclusions:
These findings support models in which medical disorders may contribute directly to depression. At the same time, the role of neuroticism in later-life depression warrants further study.