SAFETYLIT WEEKLY UPDATE

We compile citations and summaries of about 400 new articles every week.
RSS Feed

HELP: Tutorials | FAQ
CONTACT US: Contact info

Search Results

Journal Article

Citation

Bogers IC, Zuidersma M, Boshuisen ML, Comijs HC, Oude Voshaar RC. Int. J. Geriatr. Psychiatry 2016; 32(8): 882-891.

Affiliation

University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion regulation, Groningen, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/gps.4541

PMID

27384251

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Thoughts of death are not regularly included in diagnostic instruments and rarely examined separately from thoughts of suicide. This exploratory study examined whether thoughts of death and thoughts of suicide affect the course of late-life depressive disorders.

METHODS: In 378 depressed older persons, thoughts of death and thoughts of suicide were assessed using questions from the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. After 2 years, the presence of a DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of minor or major depression or dysthymia was assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. The Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology was administered every 6 months up till 3-year follow-up.

RESULTS: Multinomial logistic regression showed that thoughts of death as well as thoughts of suicide predicted double depression at follow-up (OR = 2.14 [95% CI: 1.04-4.40] and OR = 6.47 [95% CI: 2.22-3.02], respectively), compared with patients without these thoughts.

RESULTS became non-significant when adjusted for baseline depression severity (OR = 1.17 [95% CI: 0.52-2.63] and OR = 2.57 [95% CI: 0.79-8.84], respectively). Mixed linear models showed that severity of depression was lowest in the reference group, while symptoms decreased more over time in those with either thoughts of death or suicide.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients with thoughts of death or with thoughts of suicide were more severely depressed at baseline and follow-up, with the highest risk of being depressed at follow-up for patients with thoughts of suicide. These associations could be explained by baseline depression severity. The results suggest that thoughts of death and thoughts of suicide are important risk markers in predicting the course of depression.

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Language: en

NEW SEARCH


All SafetyLit records are available for automatic download to Zotero & Mendeley
Print