CLINICAL AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL COMPARISONS OF LATE-ONSET AND EARLY-ONSET DEPRESSION

Objective: The authors examined the relationship between age at onset of first depressive episode and clinical features in elderly depressed patients. Method: They used data on age at onset and clinical feature s in 246 elderly depressed patients treated at the National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Research Center for the Study of Depression in Later Life, located at Duke University. Results: Two variables-loss of interest and number of depressive episodes-were related to age at onset in all analyses. Conclusions: This study confirms the hypothesis that apathy is more prominent in late-onset than in early-onset depre ssion.