BASE-Publications: Abstracts
Subthreshold
depression in the elderly: Qualitative or quantitative distinction?
B. Geiselmann & M. Bauer (2000)
Comprehensive Psychiatry, 41,
32-38
Recent studies revealed that
subthreshold depression (or "subclinical" or "subsyndromal"
depression) can have clinical validity because it is related to dysfunction and
disability and is a risk factor for major depression. However, none of these
studies focused on old age. Therefore, one aim of the psychiatric part of the
multidisciplinary Berlin Aging Study (BASE) was also to detect milder forms of
psychopathological syndromes, especially subthreshold depression, compared with
specified forms such as major depression and dysthymia according to the
DSM-III-R. The present evaluation shows that subthreshold depression can be
characterized in 2 ways: firstly, as a quantitatively minor variant of
depression or st depression-like state with fewer symptoms or with less
continuity; and secondly, as qualitatively different from major depression with
fewer suicidal thoughts or feelings of guilt or worthlessness, while worries
about health and weariness of living occur with a similar frequency.