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A Comparison of Early-Onset and Late-Onset Depressive Illness in the Elderly

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

P. W. Burvill ,
W. D. Hall ,
H. G. Stampfer  and
J. P. Emmerson
P. W. Burvill*
Affiliation:
University of Western Australia, Royal Perth Hospital, GPO Box X2213, Perth, Western Australia 6001
W. D. Hall
Affiliation:
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
H. G. Stampfer
Affiliation:
University of Western Australia, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Western Australia
J. P. Emmerson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

Elderly patients with early-onset and late-onset depressive illness presenting to psychiatrists for treatment were compared for social, demographic, and clinical measures. For most factors measured no statistically significant differences were found. In the early-onset cases, patients were significantly more severely depressed. There was some evidence for the hypotheses that family history is less important and biological factors more important in late-onset depression. It is suggested that the latter hypothesis should be tested by a range of the newer neuroanatomical and neurophysiological laboratory investigations. The findings indicate that neuroticism is an important underlying factor in both early-onset and late-onset depression in the elderly.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 155 , Issue 5 , November 1989 , pp. 673 - 679
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1989 

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