Psychotic (delusional) major depression in late life: A clinical study

Abstract

Background: Psychotic (delusional) major depression (PMD) in the elderly is a common condition in inpatient settings. There is evidence that late age onset depressives are more likely to be psychotic. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency, sociodemographic, and clinical characteristics of PMD in hospitalized elderly depressives. Methods: The sample consisted of 118 elderly patients consecutively admitted at three different clinics. All patients fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for major depression disorder and were diagnosed on the basis of Structural Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). The subjects were also assessed using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and a physical health rating scale. Results: PMD was positively associated with age of onset of depression. The PMD patients were also more severely depressed, more psychomotorically retarded and referred more past psychotic depressive episodes. Furthermore, age at onset influenced the type of delusions, so that PMD patients with aged over 60 at onset expressed delusions of hypochondriacal and nihilistic content more frequently. Conclusions: The results of our study demonstrated that PMD in the elderly has a later age at onset. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.