The characteristics of understanding of depression among older patients treated with antidepressants: a comparison between older and younger patients

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of all subjects and the comparison between remitters and non-remitters and between younger and older groups

Variables	All subjects (n=424)	Remitters (n=122)	Non-remitters (n=269)	p-value	Younger (n=248)	Older (n=145)	p-value
Age	56.1±16.9	59.7±15.0	53.2±17.3	0.000**	45.0±12.6	72.7±5.5	0.000**
Sex (male:female)	134:290	47:75	77:192	0.051	84:164	41:104	0.250
Diagnosis (n)
Depression	364	110	224	0.123	199	137	0.002**
Bipolar disorder	27	8	19		21	6
Dysthymic disorder	10	0	10		10	0
Personality disorder	10	2	7		8	1
Others	13	2	9		10	1
Age at onset	47.6±16.9	51.7±16.5	45.1±16.9	0.000**	37.9±12.7	62.7±11.3	0.000**
Duration of disease (years)	8.8±9.0	8.4±8.6	8.5±9.0	0.964	7.2±6.8	10.7±11.2	0.001**
Duration of taking antidepressants (years)	6.9±7.2	6.8±7.3	6.5±6.9	0.667	5.4±5.5	8.8±8.7	0.000**
Number of major depressive episodes (times)	1.9±1.6	1.6±1.4	2.0±1.7	0.029*	1.9±1.6	1.7±1.5	0.192
Number of hospitalizations (times)	0.4±1.1	0.4±1.1	0.4±1.0	0.947	0.4±1.1	0.4±0.8	0.492
GAF	66.1±13.5	71.4±12.2	63.1±13.2	0.000**	66.7±12.9	64.0±14.1	0.054
CGI-S	3.3±1.0	2.9±0.9	3.6±0.9	0.000**	3.4±0.9	3.4±1.0	0.899
QIDS-J	9.2±5.7	2.9±1.7	12.1±4.4	0.000**	10.0±5.8	7.9±5.3	0.000**
Remitters/non-remitters	122:269				68:180	56:89	0.021*
Receiving explanation (yes:no)
A	261:161	76:46	166:102	0.947	180:67	64:81	0.000**
B	206:213	67:55	126:139	0.178	147:99	48:95	0.000**
C	213:206	62:58	137:130	0.946	154:92	47:96	0.000**
D	239:179	68:54	152:113	0.765	166:80	56:87	0.000**
E	193:224	54:68	124:141	0.643	132:114	48:95	0.000**
F	119:298	35:87	75:191	0.920	84:163	28:115	0.002**
G	211:206	58:63	143:124	0.304	167:80	35:108	0.000**
H	150:265	42:79	101:165	0.538	115:130	29:115	0.000**
Understanding scores
A	5.2±2.8	5.4±2.9	5.1±2.8	0.391	5.8±2.5	4.3±3.0	0.000**
B	4.6±2.9	5.1±3.1	4.4±2.8	0.026*	5.0±2.8	3.9±3.1	0.000**
C	5.0±3.0	5.0±3.2	5.0±2.9	0.917	5.7±2.7	3.9±3.1	0.000**
D	4.7±3.0	5.0±3.1	4.6±3.0	0.216	5.3±2.8	3.7±3.2	0.000**
E	3.9±3.1	4.3±3.3	3.7±3.0	0.073	4.1±3.0	3.6±3.4	0.076
F	3.2±3.0	3.7±3.3	2.8±2.8	0.009**	3.3±2.8	2.8±3.2	0.092
G	3.9±3.1	4.4±3.3	3.7±3.0	0.056	4.6±2.9	2.8±3.0	0.000**
H	3.3±3.0	3.7±3.2	3.1±2.9	0.050	3.8±2.9	2.4±2.8	0.000**
Total	33.8±20.2	35.8±22.2	32.7±19.1	0.251	37.7±17.9	27.2±22.0	0.000**

Notes: Data shown as number, mean ± SD, or p-value. A, depressive symptoms; B, the course of depression; C, the cause of depression; D, the treatment plan; E, the duration of antidepressant uses; F, how to discontinue antidepressant; G, the side effects of antidepressants; H, psychotherapy.

* p<0.05;

** p<0.01.

Abbreviations: GAF, Global Assessment of Functioning; CGI-S, Clinical Global Impression – Severity; QIDS-J, Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Japanese version.

Table 2 Comparison of the understanding scores between the groups and their association with receiving explanations

Receiving explanation	Understanding scores	Younger			Older
		Received: mean ± SD, n	Not received: mean ± SD, n	p-value	Received: mean ± SD, n	Not received: mean ± SD, n	p-value
Item A	A	6.3±2.3, 177	4.3±2.4, 65	0.000	6.0±2.3, 62	3.0±2.9, 80	0.000
	B	5.7±2.6, 179	3.3±2.4, 66	0.000	5.5±2.6, 64	2.7±2.8, 81	0.000
	C	6.2±2.5, 179	4.2±2.8, 66	0.000	5.6±2.6, 63	2.6±2.9, 81	0.000
	D	5.9±2.5, 176	3.5±2.8, 66	0.000	5.5±3.1, 63	2.4±2.7, 80	0.000
	E	4.7±2.8, 178	2.5±2.7, 66	0.000	5.2±3.1, 62	2.3±3.0, 81	0.000
	F	3.7±2.9, 177	2.4±2.6, 67	0.002	4.4±3.4, 63	1.5±2.3, 80	0.000
	G	5.1±2.9, 176	3.1±2.6, 66	0.000	4.0±3.4, 62	1.9±2.4, 80	0.000
	H	4.4±2.9, 176	2.2±2.4, 64	0.000	3.6±3.1, 62	1.4±2.1, 81	0.000
	Total	42.1±16.3, 166	25.2±16.2, 60	0.000	40.2±20.1, 57	17.7±18.1, 78	0.000
Item B	A	6.4±2.3, 146	4.8±2.6, 95	0.000	6.1±2.3, 46	3.4±3.0, 95	0.000
	B	6.1±2.4, 146	3.6±2.6, 98	0.000	5.8±2.4, 48	2.9±2.8, 95	0.000
	C	6.5±2.3, 146	4.5±2.9, 98	0.000	5.7±2.3, 48	3.0±3.1, 94	0.000
	D	6.3±2.2, 144	3.7±2.8, 97	0.000	5.7±2.7, 47	2.7±3.0, 94	0.000
	E	5.0±2.8, 145	2.9±2.8, 98	0.000	5.8±3.0, 47	2.4±2.9, 94	0.000
	F	3.8±2.9, 145	2.7±2.6, 98	0.004	4.7±3.3, 48	1.8±2.7, 93	0.000
	G	5.1±2.9, 143	3.8±2.8, 98	0.000	4.1±3.3, 46	2.1±2.7, 94	0.001
	H	4.6±2.9, 143	2.7±2.6, 96	0.000	3.8±3.1, 47	1.7±2.3, 94	0.000
	Total	43.5±15.5, 137	28.9±17.6, 88	0.000	42.7±18.4, 42	19.7±19.4	0.000
Item C	A	6.4±2.3, 152	4.7±2.6, 89	0.000	6.3±2.5, 45	3.3±2.8, 95	0.000
	B	5.9±2.4, 153	3.7±2.8, 91	0.000	5.9±2.6, 47	2.8±2.7, 96	0.000
	C	6.6±2.1, 153	4.2±3.0, 92	0.000	5.9±2.2, 47	2.9±3.0, 96	0.000
	D	6.1±2.2, 150	3.9±3.0, 91	0.000	5.8±2.8, 46	2.7±2.9, 95	0.000
	E	4.9±2.7, 153	2.8±2.9, 90	0.000	5.4±3.1, 46	2.6±3.1, 96	0.000
	F	3.8±2.8, 152	2.5±2.7, 91	0.001	4.7±3.5, 47	1.8±2.6, 95	0.000
	G	5.2±2.8, 151	3.5±2.9, 91	0.000	4.1±3.6, 45	2.1±2.5, 95	0.001
	H	4.4±2.8, 151	2.8±2.8, 89	0.000	3.9±3.2, 46	1.6±2.2, 96	0.000
	Total	43.4±14.8, 141	28.0±18.6, 85	0.000	43.1±20.2, 41	19.8±18.5, 93	0.000
Item D	A	6.2±2.3, 164	4.9±2.8, 78	0.000	6.2±2.3, 55	3.1±2.8, 86	0.000
	B	5.8±2.5, 165	3.5±2.8, 80	0.000	6.0±2.5, 56	2.6±2.6, 87	0.000
	C	6.3±2.4, 165	4.5±3.0, 79	0.000	6.1±2.4, 55	2.5±2.8, 87	0.000
	D	6.2±2.1, 163	3.3±2.9, 78	0.000	6.2±2.5, 55	2.2±2.6, 86	0.000
	E	5.0±2.8, 164	2.4±2.7, 79	0.000	5.9±2.9, 54	2.1±2.7, 87	0.000
	F	3.8±2.8, 163	2.5±2.8, 80	0.001	5.1±3.2, 55	1.3±2.1, 86	0.000
	G	5.0±2.9, 162	3.7±2.9, 79	0.001	4.8±3.1, 54	1.5±2.2, 86	0.000
	H	4.5±2.8, 161	2.6±2.8, 78	0.000	4.2±3.1, 54	1.3±2.0, 87	0.000
	Total	42.6±15.7, 153	27.5±18.1, 73	0.000	45.0±18.3, 50	16.3±16.3, 84	0.000
Item E	A	6.3±2.4, 130	5.2±2.6, 112	0.000	6.1±2.4, 47	3.4±2.9, 94	0.000
	B	6.0±2.5, 132	4.0±2.7, 113	0.000	5.8±2.5, 48	2.9±2.9, 95	0.000
	C	6.4±2.4, 131	4.9±2.9, 113	0.000	6.2±2.2, 48	2.7±2.9, 94	0.000
	D	6.4±2.1, 131	3.9±2.8, 110	0.000	5.8±2.5, 47	2.7±3.1, 94	0.000
	E	5.9±2.4, 130	2.2±2.3, 113	0.000	6.4±2.5, 48	2.1±2.8, 93	0.000
	F	4.0±2.8, 130	2.6±2.7, 113	0.000	5.0±3.1, 48	1.6±2.6, 93	0.000
	G	5.3±2.9, 130	3.8±2.8, 111	0.000	4.4±3.2, 47	2.0±2.6, 93	0.000
	H	4.7±2.9, 128	2.9±2.7, 111	0.000	4.4±2.9, 47	1.4±2.2, 94	0.000
	Total	44.9±16.2, 121	29.5±16.2, 105	0.000	43.6±17.5, 45	18.6±19.1, 89	0.000
Item F	A	6.5±2.2, 83	5.4±2.6, 159	0.001	6.9±1.9, 27	3.7±3.0, 114	0.000
	B	6.1±2.3, 84	4.5±2.8, 161	0.000	6.3±1.8, 28	3.2±3.0, 115	0.000
	C	6.3±2.4, 83	5.4±2.9, 162	0.012	6.5±1.8, 28	3.3±3.1, 114	0.000
	D	6.2±2.3, 82	4.8±2.9, 160	0.000	6.2±2.4, 28	3.1±3.1, 113	0.000
	E	5.6±2.5, 84	3.4±2.9, 160	0.000	6.5±1.9, 28	2.8±3.2, 113	0.000
	F	5.8±2.2, 83	2.0±2.2, 161	0.000	6.1±2.2, 28	2.0±2.9, 113	0.000
	G	5.6±2.8, 83	4.0±2.9, 159	0.000	5.5±2.5, 28	2.1±2.7, 112	0.000
	H	4.9±2.7, 83	3.2±2.9, 157	0.000	4.9±2.8, 28	1.7±2.4, 113	0.000
	Total	47.0±14.9, 78	32.6±17.4, 148	0.000	48.3±13.7, 27	21.5±20.1, 107	0.000
Item G	A	6.2±2.4, 165	4.9±2.6, 77	0.000	7.1±2.0, 35	3.4±2.8, 106	0.000
	B	5.5±2.7, 166	4.0±2.7, 79	0.000	6.6±2.2, 35	3.0±2.8, 108	0.000
	C	6.1±2.6, 166	4.8±2.8, 79	0.000	6.8±2.0, 34	3.0±2.9, 108	0.000
	D	5.7±2.6, 164	4.3±2.8, 78	0.000	6.9±2.3, 35	2.8±2.8, 106	0.000
	E	4.6±3.0, 165	3.1±2.7, 79	0.000	6.8±2.4, 34	2.6±3.0, 107	0.000
	F	3.8±2.9, 164	2.4±2.6, 80	0.000	5.9±2.9, 34	1.8±2.6, 107	0.000
	G	5.7±2.5, 164	2.3±2.5, 78	0.000	6.0±2.6, 33	1.8±2.4, 107	0.000
	H	4.4±2.9, 163	2.6±2.6, 77	0.000	4.9±2.9, 33	1.6±2.3, 108	0.000
	Total	41.9±16.7, 156	28.5±17.1, 70	0.000	51.3±14.8, 32	19.6±18.1, 102	0.000
Item H	A	6.2±2.3, 114	5.4±2.7, 126	0.010	6.4±2.4, 29	3.8±3.0, 113	0.000
	B	5.9±2.5, 114	4.3±2.9, 129	0.000	6.1±2.6, 296	3.3±2.9, 115	0.000
	C	6.3±2.6, 114	5.2±2.8, 129	0.001	6.3±2.4, 29	3.3±3.1, 114	0.000
	D	6.0±2.4, 113	4.6±2.9, 127	0.000	6.1±2.7, 28	3.2±3.1, 114	0.000
	E	5.1±3.0, 115	3.3±2.7, 127	0.000	6.2±2.6, 29	2.9±3.2, 113	0.000
	F	4.1±2.9, 114	2.6±2.6, 128	0.000	5.3±2.8, 29	2.1±3.0, 113	0.000
	G	5.4±2.8, 114	3.8±2.9, 126	0.000	5.0±2.8, 28	2.3±2.8, 113	0.000
	H	5.5±2.4, 114	2.3±2.6, 125	0.000	5.4±2.4, 287	1.7±2.4, 114	0.000
	Total	44.5±16.3, 109	31.5±17.1, 116	0.000	47.1±17.4, 27	22.2±20.1, 108	0.000

Notes: A, depressive symptoms; B, the course of depression; C, the cause of depression; D, the treatment plan; E, the duration of antidepressant uses; F, how to discontinue antidepressant; G, the side effects of antidepressants; H, psychotherapy.

Table 3 Comparison between remitters and non-remitters in both the younger and older groups

	Younger			Older
	Remitters	Non-remitters	p-value	Remitters	Non-remitters	p-value
Age	48.4±11.7	43.8±12.7	0.009**	73.2±5.6	72.3±5.5	0.358
Sex (male:female)	30:38	54:126	0.036*	18:38	23:66	0.412
Diagnosis (n)
Depression	61	138	0.151	51	86	0.229
Bipolar disorder	4	17		4	2
Dysthymic disorder	0	10		0	0
Personality disorder	1	7		1	0
Others	2	8		0	1
Age at onset	40.7±13.0	36.8±12.4	0.033*	64.0±11.1	61.9±11.4	0.263
Duration of disease (years)	7.5±7.5	7.1±6.5	0.681	9.7±9.5	11.4±12.2	0.365
Duration of taking antidepressants (years)	5.3±5.6	5.4±5.5	0.890	8.7±8.5	8.8±8.8	0.994
Number of major depressive episodes (times)	1.6±1.4	2.0±1.7	0.063	1.5±1.4	1.8±1.6	0.299
Number of hospitalizations (times)	0.5±1.3	0.4±1.0	0.349	0.3±0.6	0.4±0.9	0.137
GAF	73.6±10.5	64.1±12.8	0.000**	68.8±13.4	61.0±13.8	0.001**
CGI-S	2.8±0.7	3.6±0.9	0.000**	3.1±1.0	3.6±1.0	0.006**
QIDS-J	2.9±1.8	12.6±4.4	0.000**	2.8±1.7	11.1±4.3	0.000**
Receiving explanation (yes:no)
A	51:17	129:50	0.643	27:29	37:52	0.433
B	46:22	101:77	0.119	23:33	25:62	0.127
C	43:24	111:68	0.754	21:34	26:62	0.285
D	45:23	121:57	0.787	25:31	31:56	0.281
E	39:29	93:85	0.473	17:39	31:56	0.514
F	26:42	58:121	0.387	11:45	17:70	0.988
G	44:24	123:56	0.548	15:40	20:68	0.539
H	33:34	82:96	0.656	10:46	19:69	0.586
Understanding scores
A	6.2±2.3	5.6±2.6	0.077	4.5±3.2	4.2±2.9	0.545
B	5.9±2.6	4.7±2.8	0.002*	4.2±3.3	3.7±2.9	0.381
C	6.1±2.7	5.5±2.7	0.185	3.8±3.3	4.0±3.1	0.738
D	5.8±2.6	5.0±2.8	0.044*	4.1±3.5	3.6±3.1	0.401
E	4.7±2.9	3.9±3.0	0.057	3.9±3.7	3.3±3.2	0.302
F	4.1±3.1	3.0±2.7	0.006**	3.3±3.5	2.4±2.9	0.119
G	5.1±3.0	4.3±2.9	0.066	3.4±3.4	2.4±2.7	0.062
H	4.7±3.0	3.5±2.9	0.008**	2.7±3.1	2.2±2.6	0.308
Total	42.0±18.6	36.0±17.4	0.025*	28.7±24.1	26.2±20.6	0.511

Notes: Data shown as number, mean ± SD, or p-value. A, depressive symptoms; B, the course of depression; C, the cause of depression; D, the treatment plan; E, the duration of antidepressant uses; F, how to discontinue antidepressant; G, the side effects of antidepressants; H, psychotherapy.

* p<0.05;

** p<0.01.

Abbreviations: GAF, Global Assessment of Functioning; CGI-S, Clinical Global Impression – Severity; QIDS-J, Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Japanese version.