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Dexamethasone Suppression Test in Dementia and Depression

Clinical and Biological Correlates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

J. Shrimankar ,
Som D. Soni  and
J. McMurray
J. Shrimankar
Affiliation:
Prestwich Hospital, Prestwich, Manchester M25 7BL
Som D. Soni*
Affiliation:
Salford Health Authority, Prestwich Hospital, Prestwich, Manchester M25 7BL
J. McMurray
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Pathology, Hope Hospital, Salford M6 8HD
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

To determine the usefulness of the DST in differentiating depression from dementia, the test was administered to three diagnostic groups of psychogeriatric patients: depression; dementia; and dementia with depression. Clinical assessments were supplemented by ratings on the HRSD and SCAG, as well as by EEG and CT. All three groups showed a high incidence of abnormal DST results unrelated to presence or severity of affective symptoms, but showing a better association with SCAG and its ‘organic’ subsets. The mechanism(s) underlying these abnormal results may reflect organic brain disease. The usefulness of the DST in differentiating depression from dementia in the elderly was not confirmed.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 154 , Issue 3 , March 1989 , pp. 372 - 377
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1989 

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