Associations of depression status and hopelessness with breast cancer: A 24-year follow-up study

This study extended the literature by examining whether three profiles of depression predicted breast cancer status. In 1076 women of the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area study, depression status and hopelessness were measured at baseline and breast cancer status was ascertained 24 years later. Double depression, but not major depression or dysthymia, was associated with breast cancer. Hopelessness predicted fewer new cases of breast cancer. When double depression and hopelessness were simultaneously entered as predictors, the regression weights of both predictors increased. The role of severe and extended duration depression as well as possible explanations for unexpected findings are discussed.

Depressive disorders and comorbidities among the elderly: a population-based study

Objective The present study assessed the prevalence of depressive disorders and associated factors in a sample of elderly persons in the south of Santa Catarina. Methods A cross-sectional study based on population data was performed, evaluating 1021 elderly individuals aged between 60 and 79 years. Home interviews were carried out using the Portuguese version of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), in order to collect demographic data, information on hypertension and reports of acute myocardial infarction. The disorders studied were current depressive episode, dysthymia and a comorbidity of a depressive episode and dysthymia, representing double depression. The comparison of mean age and prevalence was made with the t-test and other associations were analyzed using the Chi-squared test. Results The prevalence of depression was 26.2%, while 5.5% of the sample suffered from dysthymia and 2.7% experienced double depression. Risk factors for depression were: nine or more years of schooling [PR = 1.44 (1.17 to 1.77); p <0.05] and being a current smoker [OR = 1.63 (1.30-2.05); p <0.05]. Dysthymia was associated with the male gender [OR = 6.46 (3.29 to 12.64); p <0.05], reports of hypertension [OR = 2.55 (1.53 to 4.24); p <0.05] and being either a current [OR = 1.86 (1.02 to 3.42); p <0.05] or past or former [OR = 2.89 (1.48 to 5.65); p <0.05] smoker. The same risk factors as for dysthymia were found for double depression: male [OR = 4.21 (1.80 to 9.81); p <0.05], reports of hypertension [OR = 8.11 (3.32 to 19.80); p <0.05], and being either a current [OR = 5.72 (1.64 to 19.93); p <0.05] or past [PR = 13.11 (3.75 to 45.86); p <0.05] smoker. Conclusions The present study shows that depressive disorders are a common phenomenon among the elderly. The results not only corroborated with other studies, but found slightly higher levels of depressive disorders among the elderly population.