Observational studyJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2020
The Epidemiology of Depressive Symptoms in the Last Year of Life.
Observational study in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Palliative Care Interventions Effects on Psychological Distress: A Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2023Pooled it
- Joint Trajectories of Physical Activity and Depressive Symptoms and Incident Cardiometabolic Multimorbidity: A Multi-Cohort Study.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2026Article
- A Blueprint for Implementing Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy in Palliative Care: Design, Process, and Treatment Patterns of a Real-World Clinical Program.Journal of palliative medicine · 2026Article
- Staff-Identified Palliative Care Needs Among Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE): A Survey Study.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2025Article
- Loneliness and Social Isolation in the Care of the Seriously Ill Older Adult.Clinics in geriatric medicine · 2025Review
- Psychometric evaluation of the Arabic version of the Eight-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-8): Specific cultural considerations for the assessment of depression.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2025Article
- Stressful life events in childhood and adulthood and risk of physical, psychological and cognitive multimorbidities: a multicohort study.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- The prevalence of lifetime trauma and association with physical and psychosocial health among adults at the end of life.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2025Article
- Gender differences in the association between inter-generational interaction and depressive symptoms among Chinese older adults.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Effects of depression and cognitive impairment on increased risks of incident dementia: a prospective study from three elderly cohorts.Translational psychiatry · 2024Article
- Interventions for behavioral health comorbidities in the hospice setting: a scoping review.Annals of palliative medicine · 2024Article
- Demographic, health, physical activity, and workplace factors are associated with lower healthy working life expectancy and life expectancy at age 50.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Mental Health Integration and Delivery in the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Setting: A National Survey of Clinicians.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2024Article
- Virtual reality reduces pain in palliative care-A feasibility trial.BMC palliative care · 2022Observational
- Hospice Referral in Advanced Cancer in New Jersey.Journal of hospice and palliative nursing : JHPN : the official journal of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association · 2022Article
- Quantifying the parallel mediation influence of body mass index and depression on physical activity and cognitive function among 3,611 Chinese older adults.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Article
- Financial Loss and Depressive Symptoms in University Students During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparison Between 23 Countries.International journal of public health · 2022Article
- The epidemiology of social isolation and loneliness among older adults during the last years of life.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2021Article
- Prevalence of Treatment Burden in the Last Three Years of Life.Journal of palliative medicine · 2021Article
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4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectiveDepression impacts quality of life at all life stages, but the epidemiology of depression in the last year of life is unknown. This study's objectives were to document the epidemiology of depressive symptoms in the year prior to death and to assess how the trajectory of depressive symptoms varies by sociodemographic and clinical factors.
designObservational, cross-sectional, cohort study using the Health and Retirement Study.
settingPopulation-based survey.
participantsA total of 3274 individuals who died within 12 months after assessment. MEASURES: Primary outcome: eight-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-8). Covariates included sociodemographics, self-reported illnesses, and activity of daily living (ADL) limitations.
resultsAverage CESD-8 score increased over the last year of life, with 59.3% screening positive for depression in the last month before death. Depression symptoms increased gradually from 12 to 4 months before death (increase of 0.05 points/month; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.01-0.08 points/month) and then escalated from 4 to 1 months before death (increase of 0.29 points/month; 95% CI = 0.16-0.39 points/month). Women, younger adults, and nonwhite adults all demonstrated higher rates of depressive symptoms. Individuals with cancer reported escalating rates of depressive symptoms at the end of life, while individuals with lung disease and ADL impairment demonstrated persistently high rates throughout the year before death.
conclusionsThis study revealed high rates of depressive symptoms in the last year of life as well as differences in the burden of depressive symptoms. A public health approach must be taken to screen for and appropriately treat symptoms of depression across the lifespan. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:321-328, 2020.
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