ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Depressive symptoms are highly prevalent among the elderly. Prevalence estimates for clinically significant depressive symptoms in the elderly range from about 10% for persons living independently in the community to about 25% for those with comorbid lung disease, arthritis, or Alzheimer disease (1). This rate is likely to be even higher among the elderly residing in long-term care facilities. More alarmingly, rates of major depressive disorder in younger cohorts have risen markedly over the past decade indicating that in the future with increases in the numbers of elderly in the population, prevalence of this disease in the elderly is also likely to rise significantly. It is predicted that by 2020 depression will be second only to heart disease in its contribution to the global burden of illness as measured by disability-adjusted life years (2).
