DEPRESSION AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICAN NURSING-HOME PATIENTS WITH DEMENTIA

The authors compared 218 black and 68 white nursing home patients with dementia for differences in the prevalence, recognition, and treatmen t of depression. There were no racial differences in depressive sympto ms, but whites were significantly more likely to receive a diagnosis o f ''possible depression'' and there were few racial differences in cli nical, social, or demographic factors associated with depression. Depr ession was often unrecognized and undertreated in both racial groups; several depression instruments developed for use in dementia had good reliability and validity among blacks; and there were no significant d ifferences in depressive symptoms or diagnosis between U.S.-born and C aribbean-born black patients. The absence of any appreciable interraci al or intraracial differences in depression symptoms or diagnoses may reflect uniformity in nursing home selection criteria or lessening of mood differences that may have existed before admission.