N. Rudas

Depression among elderly people. A psychosocial study of urban and rural populations.

ABSTRACT— A total of 317 elderly subjects randomly selected among people living in the community in 1 urban and 2 rural areas were studied by means of a semistructured clinical interview, the Social Adjustment Scale, and the Beck Depression Inventory. An emerging trend was demonstrated towards a higher rate of prevalence of depression among females and urban residents. Widowhood, absence of a confidant, poor education and financial difficulties (only among urban elderly people) were significantly correlated with rates of depression. Physical impairments and diseases were also associated with depression, independently of whether subjects lived alone. The findings are discussed using a psychosocial frame of reference.

Symptoms, standards of living and subjective quality of life: a comparative study of schizophrenic and depressed out-patients

The subjective quality of life (QOL) (i.e. individual evaluation of ones life experiences) has been studied according to a series of different parameters such as resource availability, and sociodemographic and clinical variables, at times yielding contradictory results. Subjective quality of life and standard of life from a selected sample of 45 chronic out‐patients (25 schizophrenics, and 20 patients with major depression) were evaluated by means of structured interviews. Statistical analysis revealed that subjective QOL was largely independent of standard of living (so long as basic needs were satisfied), diagnosis, and clinical course of illness, and only partly dependent on sociodemographic variables. No correlation was found between clinically evaluated symptoms (both psychotic and depressive) and subjective QOL. On the contrary, significant correlations were found between self‐ratings of depression, depressive cognitive attitudes and subjective ratings of QOL.

Evaluation by multidimensional instruments of health-related quality of life of elderly cancer patients undergoing three different “psychosocial” treatment approaches

Our study belongs to the clinical trials in which the health-related quality of life (HQL) evaluation constitutes the primary endpoint. It was carried out with the aim of comparing the impact of three different types of psychological intervention, namely a psychopharmacological treatment alone, the same treatment plus social support carried out by volunteers (SSV) and a third treatment modality including “structured psychotherapy” (autogenous training), on improving the HQL of elderly cancer patients undergoing antineoplastic therapy with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression related to their disease. The eight questionnaires used for HQL evaluation were generally. self-rated and multidimensional but unidimensional models were also employed. Seventy-four patients aged over 65 years with either solid tumors in different sites or hematological malignancies, generally in advanced stages (III–IV), were enrolled in the study. Of these patients, 72 (42 men and 30 women, mean age 70.68 years, range 66–85) were evaluable. Our study high-lighted the usefulness of the pharmacological therapy (alprazolam + sulpiride) and of other specific ancillary treatments in reducing the incidence of the main HQL-related side-effects of antineoplastic therapy and the superiority of an “integrated” strategy, based both on psychopharmacology and psychosocial interventions, such as SSV with or without structured psychotherapy. The one-way analysis of variance carried out by us did not allow us to draw definitive conclusions about which of the two integrated treatments was to be considered the treatment of choice, as they proved to be almost equally effective.

Standardization of a psychiatric screening test for use by general practitioners in Sardinia. Preliminary results

The use of screening test for case‐finding studies was introduced only a few years ago in Italy. This study aimed to define the degree of accuracy of the Italian version of the 24‐item Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ‐24) applied by general practitioners to their patients. The latter was carried out by comparing results with those obtained by means of the Present State Examination performed by a qualified psychiatrist. About 37% of patients interviewed could be considered as cases. In particular, 23% were affected by anxiety disorder and 14% by a depressive disorder. The receiver operating characteristic analysis showed a fairly good degree of accuracy of SRQ‐24 for cut‐off points between 7 and 8.