Depression and Dementia in Elderly People

Gjon Preci; Iliriana Zekja; Jera Kruja; Erjona Abazaj

doi:10.3889/oamjms.2022.7972

Authors

Gjon Preci Community Mental Health Cente, Shkodra, Albania
Iliriana Zekja Faculty of Medical Science and Technology, Tirana, Albania; Hospital Center “Mother Teresa” Tirana, Tirana, Albania https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8413-3657
Jera Kruja Hospital Center “Mother Teresa” Tirana, Tirana, Albania
Erjona Abazaj Faculty of Medical Science and Technology, Tirana, Albania

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2022.7972

Keywords:

Dementia, Depression, Elderly people, Shkodra city

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Dementia itself is not a disease, but a constellation of symptoms caused by diseases and disorders that affect the brain. Dementia and depression are mental health problems commonly encountered in neuropsychiatric practice in the elderly.

AIM: The aims study was to evaluate the prevalence of depression in elderly people with dementia and to see the association between them.

METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study associating dementia with depression among the population from 50 until to more than 85 years old in Shkodra City in Albania. Practically, the figure of 187 patients with dementia was selected using the cluster sampling method. Patients were considered to have depression when one or more ICD codes for depression were recorded as primary or secondary diagnosis. Multilogistic regression odds ratio (OR) was used to identify factors predicting severity of depression.

RESULTS: A total figure of 187 patients with dementia were enrolled into the study for a period of 4 years. Approximately, the minimum age was 50 and maximum 89 years old with average 75 ± 8.1 std. The prevalence of depression among those patients with dementia resulted 44.9% (84/187). Almost 61% of patients had moderate depression and 28% of patients had severe depression. According to studies, male with dementia was the most predominant sex compared to female with percentage 60.4% and 39.6%, respectively. On the other hand, depression was being found more predominant to female patients with dementia, not to forget that female was 2.9 (OR) time in risk to develop depression compared to male 95% CI (1.6–5.4) p = 0.0005. We did not find a strong association between the late-life depressions than in depression in middle-aged adults.

CONCLUSION: Depression in older adults is a serious concern, especially in dementia population, which often is underdiagnosed being masked by cognitive impairments. According to the case in question, the findings highlight a high prevalence of depression within the dementia patients. After numerous medical researches, we found a strong association between depression and gender, lifestyle, type, or residence with the dementia patients. As stated, the better knowledges in the interactions between the depression and dementia from the part of medical staff will likely contribute to the timely prevention, identification, and treatment of depression in the elderly and will influence on their quality of life.

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