Maier W, Lichtermann D, Minges J, Heun R, Hallmayer J, Klingler T
Department of Psychiatry, University of Mainz, F.R.G.
J Affect Disord. 1991 Oct;23(2):53-61. doi: 10.1016/0165-0327(91)90092-7.
Late-onset depression (greater than or equal to 60 years) is believed to be less associated with a risk of depression in first-degree relatives than early-onset depression. However, family studies in elderly probands fitting the current methodological standards of family studies are not available. The reported family study in geriatric inpatients with unipolar major depression (n = 92) supported the proposed relationship between age at onset and the proposed familial loading. A comparison to families of age-matched controls (n = 33) revealed that relatives of probands with late-onset depression are still at an increased risk of depression. However, late-onset depression was not more common in families of probands with late-onset depression than in families of probands with early-onset depression. Besides the age at onset, the recurrence of depressive episodes defined distinct patterns of familial aggregation.
晚发性抑郁症（60岁及以上）被认为与一级亲属患抑郁症的风险相关性低于早发性抑郁症。然而，目前尚无符合家庭研究方法学标准的针对老年先证者的家庭研究。一项针对92例单相重度抑郁症老年住院患者的家庭研究报告支持了发病年龄与所提出的家族负荷之间的关系。与年龄匹配的对照组家庭（n = 33）相比，晚发性抑郁症先证者的亲属患抑郁症的风险仍然增加。然而，晚发性抑郁症先证者的家庭中晚发性抑郁症并不比早发性抑郁症先证者的家庭中更常见。除了发病年龄外，抑郁发作的复发定义了不同的家族聚集模式。
