Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26242794›Full record

Observational studyBMC psychiatry2015

The course of depression in late life as measured by the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale in an observational study of hospitalized patients.

Tom Borza, Knut Engedal, Sverre Bergh, Jūratė Šaltytė Benth, Geir Selbæk

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readMulticenter StudyObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in BMC psychiatry, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01952366 (Prognosis of Depression in the Elderly), which is not on this map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT01952366 completednot on this map

Prognosis of Depression in the Elderly (PRODE)

TypeobservationalSponsorSykehuset Innlandet HFRan2009 to 2016Enrolled169ConditionsDepression, Dementia
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Moderators of treatment response in late-life depression.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Tom BorzaCentre for Old Age Psychiatric Research, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Sanderud, PO Box 68, 2312, Ottestad, Norway. tom.borza@sykehuset-innlandet.no.
Knut EngedalNorwegian National Advisory Unit on Ageing and Health, Vestfold Hospital Trust, Tønsberg, Norway. knut.engedal@aldringoghelse.no.
Sverre BerghCentre for Old Age Psychiatric Research, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Sanderud, PO Box 68, 2312, Ottestad, Norway. sverre.bergh@sykehuset-innlandet.no.
Jūratė Šaltytė BenthCentre for Old Age Psychiatric Research, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Sanderud, PO Box 68, 2312, Ottestad, Norway. jurate.saltyte-benth@medisin.uio.no.
Geir SelbækCentre for Old Age Psychiatric Research, Innlandet Hospital Trust, Sanderud, PO Box 68, 2312, Ottestad, Norway. geir.selbaek@aldringoghelse.no.
Innlandet Hospital Trust · NOUniversity of Oslo · NOSykehuset i Vestfold · NO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDepression and depressive symptoms are highly prevalent in old persons but are potentially reversible. Full recovery is the main goal in the treatment of depressive episodes. Compared to clinical trials, observational studies of patients with depression in late life (DLL) show poorer prognoses in terms of response and remission. However, observational studies on the course of DLL are scarce. The aims of this study were to examine the course of DLL in terms of response, remission and symptom-specific changes as measured by the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and to explore which clinical variables were associated with the response and remission.

methodsThis is an observational, multicenter and prospective study of patients aged 60 years and older who were referred to treatment of depression in the department of old-age psychiatry at specialist health care services in Norway. The patients were evaluated with the MADRS at admission to and discharge from hospital. The mean, median, minimum and maximum values for days stayed in hospital were 68, 53, 16 and 301, respectively. Effect size (ES) was calculated to determine which MADRS symptoms changed most during the treatment. To assess the predictors for change in the MADRS score (continuous variable) and for remission and response (both dichotomous variables), regression models adjusting for cluster effects within center were estimated.

resultsOf 145 inpatients, 99 (68.3 %) had a response to treatment (50 % or more improvement of the MADRS score). Remission (MADRS score ≤9 at discharge) was experienced in 74 (51.0 %) of the patients. Of the individual MADRS items, "reported sadness" (ES =0.88) and "lassitude" (ES = 0.80) showed the greatest amount of improvement, and "concentration difficulties" (ES = 0.50) showed the least amount of improvement during treatment. Having a diagnosis of dementia was associated with a lower remission rate and less improvement in the MADRS score during the treatment. Poorer physical health was associated with a lower response rate. Having experienced previous episode(s) of depression was associated with a lower remission rate.

conclusionsRecurrent episodes of depression, poor somatic health and a diagnosis of dementia were found to be negative prognostic factors for the course of DLL. Clinicians should therefore pay close attention to these factors when evaluating treatment.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01952366.

Indexed as

Disease ProgressionPsychiatric Status Rating ScalesAgedAge FactorsAgingDementiaDepressionFemaleHumansInpatientsLate Onset DisordersMaleMiddle AgedPrognosisProspective Studies

Identifiers

PMID26242794
PMCPMC4526199
OpenAlexW1894508611

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.