Prevalence of depression and cognitive deficit in a geriatric population

Depression and cognitive disorders are the most common psychiatric disorder s in geriatric patients, although prevalence of such diseases vary in the l iterature, depending on the existence of associated pathologies and social conditions of the patients at time of diagnosis. The objective of this stud y was to evaluate the prevalence of depression and cognitive deficit in pat ients, admitted to our structures and subsequently the role of the inpatien t treatment on the cognitive and emotional functions. Geriatric patients we re included into this observational study, who were admitted to the departm ent of medical longterm care, residential assistance and geriatric medicine of the Madonna della Letizia private clinic in Velletri, Rome. One-hundred -eight patients were evaluated. Patient characteristics include age range 6 5-95 years; mean age was 79.7 years; 52 patients (31 females and 21 males) were in the department for acute patients and 56 patients (41 females and 1 5 males) were admitted to long-care and residential assistance. The mini me ntal state examination (MMSE) and geriatric depression scale (GDS) evaluati on scales were applied for their easy administration and comprehension. The results obtained have revealed that the prevalence of cognitive deficit (M MSE less than or equal to 23) in outpatients was 50 %, and in inpatients 83 .9 %. The prevalence of depression (GDS greater than or equal to 14) in out patients was 26.9 % and in inpatients 51.7 %. The results obtained in this study show that, in agreement with the relevant literature, the prevalence of the cognitive deficit and of depression is substantially modified by env ironmental conditions; in this instance it's higher in the inpatients.