Mental health: minimental state examination and geriatric depression score of elderly Europeans in the SENECA study of 1993.

OBJECTIVE

Assessment of the mental health of the European elderly and its correlations with micronutrient plasma levels, education and ability to carry out activities of daily living.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Eleven small towns in nine European countries.

SUBJECTS

Randomised sample of 880 subjects of both sexes born in the period 1913 to 1918, stratified according to age and sex.

INTERVENTIONS

The mental status was assessed by means of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS).

RESULTS

The overall mean MMSE score was 26.7 and this was also the mean for both sexes. MMSE scores below 23 were found in 8.5% of the men and 10.9% of the women. The overall mean GDS score was 3.9, 3.2 for the men and 4.6 for the women. GDS scores above the cut-off of 5 were found in 11.6% of the men and 27.5% of the women. There were many correlations between the MMSE and the GDS scores and education, Activities of Daily Living scores, subjective health and plasma micronutrient levels, particularly the carotenoids. No geographical pattern of the distribution of MMSE and GDS scores was discernible.

CONCLUSIONS

The overall cognitive function of these elderly subjects aged 74 to 79 years was on the whole well preserved. The GDS scores suggest that the prevalence of depression was high in this sample. Education and higher plasma levels of certain vitamins and carotenoids appear to be associated with lower risk of developing dementia.