Prevalence and predictors of depressive symptoms in a nursing home

The aim of the study was to identify the prevalence of depressive symptoms (GDS score) and predictors of mood changes over a 12-month period in 56 nursing home residents (13 males and 43 females; mean age 81.1+/-8.6). At baseline, 48.2% of the residents who scored above 11 on the MMSE had a GDS score >15. GDS score was associated with pain, disabling diseases and self-evaluation of health, and independently with dissatisfaction with the nursing home environment, low level of nursing home social activities and younger age. Five depressed residents became non-depressed, eight non-depressed became depressed and 14 residents remained persistently depressed 12 months after baseline. After controlling for potential confounders, increasing GDS score was independently associated with decreasing basic activities of daily living, increasing number of clinical problems and younger age. Our data support the hypothesis that specific emotional adjustments can be found even in the apparently static environment of the nursing home.