The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · Sep 2014
Prevalence and predictors of persistent versus remitting mood, anxiety, and substance disorders in a national sample of older adults.
Relatively little is known about whether mental disorders other than depression remit versus persist in later life, especially within nationally representative samples. Our objectives were to examine the prevalence of persistent mood, anxiety, and substance disorders in older adults and to explore a range of physical and mental health predictors of disorder chronicity. ⋯ At least two-thirds of mental disorders in these older adults were not persistent. Sociodemographic variables had little influence on chronicity, whereas a number of markers of mental disorder severity and complexity predicted persistent mood and anxiety disorders. The findings have important treatment and prevention implications.
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · Sep 2014
Correlates of alcohol abstinence and at-risk alcohol consumption in older adults with depression: the NESDO study.
To compare alcohol use between depressed and nondepressed older adults, and to investigate correlates of alcohol abstinence and at-risk alcohol consumption in depressed older adults. ⋯ Although alcohol abstinence was more common in depressed than in nondepressed older adults, 19% of depressed persons were at-risk drinkers. Because at-risk drinking is associated with more severe depression and may have a negative impact on health and treatment outcome, it is important that physicians consider alcohol use in depressed older adults.
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · Sep 2014
An evaluation of deficits in semantic cueing and proactive and retroactive interference as early features of Alzheimer's disease.
To determine the degree to which susceptibility to different types of semantic interference may reflect the initial manifestations of early Alzheimer's disease (AD) beyond the effects of global memory impairment. ⋯ The LASSI-L paradigm is unique and unlike other assessments of memory in that items posed for cued recall are explicitly presented, and semantic interference and cueing effects can be assessed while controlling for initial level of memory impairment. This is a powerful procedure that allows the participant to serve as his or her own control. The high levels of discrimination between subjects with aMCI and normal cognition that exceeded traditional neuropsychological measures makes the LASSI-L worthy of further research in the detection of early AD.