Primary Dementia Collaborative Research Centre and School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Int Psychogeriatr. 2010 Mar;22(2):237-45. doi: 10.1017/S104161020999069X. Epub 2009 Aug 10.
This study aimed to examine the levels and rates of depression in Chinese residents living in ethno-specific nursing homes (NHs), and Chinese residents living in mainstream NHs in Sydney. Australia has a growing aging migrant population and rates of depression in NHs are high, but the prevalence of depression in culturally and linguistically diverse residents has received little attention in the research literature.
Older persons from a Chinese background residing in either Chinese-specific or mainstream NHs located in Sydney were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey. Assessments included the Mini-mental State Examination, the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), and interviews with family carers and staff.
Fifty-eight Chinese residents were recruited from three Chinese-specific NHs (n = 31) and 13 mainstream NHs (n = 27). There were no significant differences in resident depression levels or rates between the facility types. Mean CSDD scores were 9.4 (SD = 6.0) and 11.2 (SD = 6.1) in Chinese-specific and mainstream NHs, respectively. Chinese-specific NH residents had lower prescription levels of antipsychotics and more of them received effective antidepressant therapy in comparison to those in mainstream NHs.
These findings suggest that in comparison to mainstream care Chinese ethno-specific care does not impact on levels or rates of depression but is associated with less antipsychotic use and higher numbers of residents treated effectively with antidepressant therapy. Longitudinal research with larger samples and a range of outcome measures including quality-of-life and social engagement is required to explore further the effects of ethno-specific care.
本研究旨在调查居住在澳式特定养老院（NHs）和悉尼主流 NHs 中的中国居民的抑郁水平和发生率。澳大利亚老龄化移民人口不断增加，NH 中的抑郁率较高，但在研究文献中，对文化和语言多样化居民的抑郁患病率关注甚少。
邀请来自澳式特定或主流 NHs 的具有中国背景的老年人参与横断面调查。评估包括简易精神状态检查、老年痴呆症抑郁量表（CSDD）、以及对家庭照顾者和工作人员的访谈。
从三家澳式特定 NH（n = 31）和 13 家主流 NH（n = 27）中招募了 58 名中国居民。设施类型之间居民的抑郁水平或发生率没有显著差异。澳式特定 NH 的 CSDD 平均得分为 9.4（SD = 6.0），主流 NH 的平均得分为 11.2（SD = 6.1）。与主流 NH 相比，澳式特定 NH 居民的抗精神病药物处方水平较低，接受有效抗抑郁治疗的患者更多。
这些发现表明，与主流护理相比，澳式特定护理不会影响抑郁的水平或发生率，但与抗精神病药物使用较少以及更多接受有效抗抑郁治疗的居民相关。需要进行纵向研究，使用更大的样本量和一系列结果衡量标准（包括生活质量和社交参与），以进一步探讨特定护理的效果。
