Depression symptoms in late life assessed using the EURO-D scale - Effect of age, gender and marital status in 14 European centers

Background Data from surveys involving 21 724 subjects aged greater than or equal to 65 years were analysed using a harmonised depression symptom scal e, the EURO-D. Aims To describe and compare the effects of age, gender and mental status o n depressive symptoms across Europe. Method We tested for the effects of centre, age, gender and marital status on EURO-D score. Between-centre variance was partitioned according to centr e characteristics: region, religion and survey instrument used. Results EURO-D scores-tended to increase with age, women scored higher than men, and widowed and separated subjects scored higher than others. The EUR O-D scale could be reduced into two factors: affective suffering, responsib le for the gender difference,and motivation, accounting for the positive as sociation with age. Conclusions Large between-centre differences in depression symptoms were no t explained by demography or by the depression measure used in the survey. Consistent, small effects of age, gender and marital status were observed a cross Europe. Depression may be overdiagnosed in older persons because of a n increase in lack of motivation that may be affectively neutral, and is po ssibly related to cognitive decline.