Depression in Elderly Patients with Schizophrenia

Abstract

Background

The presence of depressive symptoms impacts negatively the lives of patients suffering from schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Likewise, the treatment poses many challenges for clinicians.

Objectives

To specify the profile of elderly with schizophrenia and to evaluate the prevalence of depression and its related factors.

Methods

A descriptive and analytic study involved 40 elderly patients aged 65 and over with DSM-5 diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, followed to the outpatient psychiatry department of Hedi Chaker University Hospital, in Sfax, Tunisia, during the two months of September and October 2015. Positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) and Calgary depression scales were used to assess respectively the symptoms of schizophrenia dimensionally and depression.

Results

The majority of our patients was male (62.5%), single (55%), with low school and socioeconomic level. The mean duration of disease was 45 ± 6.02 years and patients were mostly (90%) in classical neuroleptics. The scale of PANSS showed the predominance of negative symptoms (67.5% of cases). In addition, according to Calgary scale, depression was found in 25% of patients. Factors positively correlated to depression were: the female sex among single (P = 0.043), absence of family support (P = 0.001), treatment with conventional neuroleptics (P = 0.039) and negative symptoms (P = 0.001).

Conclusion

Depression in patients with schizophrenia is far from exceptional. It is often difficult to diagnose due to the recovery of other symptoms.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.