Depression and self-reported functional status in older primary care patients

Objective: The authors' goal was to examine whether depression is associate d with overreporting of functional disability. Method: The subjects were 304 patients 60 years old or older who were recru ited from primary care settings. Measures included examiner ratings of depr ession diagnosis and medical burden and self-reported and examiner-rated fu nctional assessments. Multiple regression techniques were used to determine the independent association of depression with self-reported function afte r examiner-rated function was added to the analysis as a covariate. Results: Depression diagnosis was associated with poorer self-reported role functioning, whether the patient attributed the disability to physical or emotional causes. Depression was not independently associated with poorer s elf-reported physical functioning. Conclusions: Clinicians and researchers should recognize that depression ca n confound the self-reporting and attribution of functional disability.