Journal of affective disorders
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Depression is a common and disabling psychiatric disorder in later life. Particular frail nursing home patients seem to be at increased risk. Nursing home-based studies on risk indicators of depression are scarce. ⋯ The prevalence of depression in the nursing home population is very high. Whichever way defined, the prevalence rates found were three to four times higher than in the community-dwelling elderly. Age, pain, visual impairment, stroke, functional limitations, negative life events, loneliness, lack of social support and perceived inadequacy of care were found to be risk indicators for depression. Consequently, optimal physical treatment and special attention and focus on psychosocial factors must be major goals in developing care programs for this frail population.
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Comparative Study
Cognitive complexity of self-administered depression measures.
Self-administered depression measures are important tools for research and practice, but their utility depends on the quality of the measurements they yield. Respondent comprehension is essential for meaningful measurement and prior studies have used readability indices to assess comprehensibility. Readability, however, is only one aspect of comprehension and empirical evidence shows that comprehension and measurement quality decrease as the cognitive complexity of standardized questions increases. Thus, cognitive complexity may provide a useful guide for selecting measures to maximize measurement quality. ⋯ Since cognitive complexity is likely to limit comprehension and reduce measurement accuracy, it merits consideration in selection of self-administered depression measures.