Chong M Y, Tsang H Y, Chen C S, Tang T C, Chen C C, Yeh T L, Lee Y H, Lo H Y
Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Br J Psychiatry. 2001 Jan;178(1):29-35. doi: 10.1192/bjp.178.1.29.
Published studies of prevalence of depression in old age in Taiwan have yielded equivocal results.
To study the prevalence of depressive disorders among community-dwelling elderly; further, to assess socio-demographic correlates and life events in relation to depression.
A randomised sample of 1500 subjects aged 65 and over was selected from three communities. Research psychiatrists conducted all assessments using the Geriatric Mental State Schedule. The diagnosis of depression was made with the GMS-AGECAT (Automated Geriatric Examination for Computerised Assisted Taxonomy); data on life events were collected with the Taiwanese version of the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule.
One-month prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 37.7%, with 15.3% depressive neurosis and 5.9% major depression. A high risk of depressive disorders was found among widows with a low educational level living in the urban community, and among those with physical illnesses.
Contrary to most previous reports, we found that the prevalence of depressive disorders among the elderly in the community in Taiwan is high and comparable to rates reported in some studies of UK samples.
台湾已发表的关于老年人抑郁症患病率的研究结果不一。
研究社区居住老年人中抑郁障碍的患病率；此外，评估与抑郁症相关的社会人口学相关因素和生活事件。
从三个社区中随机抽取1500名65岁及以上的受试者作为样本。研究精神科医生使用老年精神状态检查表进行所有评估。使用GMS-AGECAT（计算机辅助分类的老年自动检查）进行抑郁症诊断；使用台湾版生活事件与困难检查表收集生活事件数据。
精神障碍的1个月患病率为37.7%，其中抑郁性神经症为15.3%，重度抑郁症为5.9%。在居住在城市社区、教育水平低的寡妇以及患有躯体疾病的人群中发现患抑郁障碍的风险较高。
与大多数先前的报告相反，我们发现台湾社区老年人中抑郁障碍的患病率很高，与一些英国样本研究报告的患病率相当。
