Objective: The present study was to investigate the prevalence and potentia
l risk factors of depressive disorders in Chinese patients with Alzheimer's
disease (AD).
Method: A series of consecutive AD patients from the Memory Disorders Clini
c of the Veterans General Hospital, Taipei were studied. Psychiatric diagno
sis was made according to DSM-III-R criteria with the use of the Structured
Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID). The Chinese version of the Cognit
ive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI) and the Hamilton Depression Ratin
g Scale (HDRS) were also applied. Primary caregivers were interviewed for t
he Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale, the Barthel Index and the Alzheime
r's Deficit Scale (ADS).
Results: Among 141 AD patients, seven (5.0%) were diagnosed with major depr
ession, 11 (7.8%) with dysthymia and five (3.5%) with depressive disorder n
ot otherwise specified. Women were at elevated risk for depressive disorder
s and had more severe symptoms of depression.
Conclusions: The prevalence of depressive disorders among Chinese AD patien
ts is in the middle of the range of western findings. The risk factor for d
epression is female gender.