OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the relationship between age at onset of
first depressive episode and clinical features in elderly depressed
patients. METHOD: They used data on age at onset and clinical features in
246 elderly depressed patients treated at the National Institute of Mental
Health Clinical Research Center for the Study of Depression in Later Life,
located at Duke University. RESULTS: Two variables--loss of interest and
number of depressive episodes--were related to age at onset in all
analyses. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the hypothesis that apathy is
more prominent in late-onset than in early-onset depression.
Abstract Teaser