Anxiety symptoms in 74+ community-dwelling elderly: associations with physical morbidity, depression and alcohol consumption.

OBJECTIVE: Anxiety among community-dwelling older adults has not been studied sufficiently. The aims of this cross-sectional population-based study were to estimate the point prevalence of clinically relevant anxiety symptoms and to describe their socio-demographic and clinical features, with particular focus on the association with somatic illnesses. METHODS: Three-hundred-sixty-six non-demented older adults (mean age 83.7±6.2, range 74-99 years) from the Faenza Project (Northern Italy) were assessed using the Cambridge Mental Disorders of the Elderly Examination-Revised (CAMDEX-R) and the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory short form (GAI-sf). Multi-adjusted regression analyses were used to estimate Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: Clinically relevant anxiety symptoms occurred in one out of five participants (point prevalence 21.0%) and were significantly associated with depression (OR 5.6 per rank; 95% CI: 3.1-10.1), physical morbidity (OR 3.5 per illness; 95% CI: 1.0-11.9) and female gender (OR 2.8; 95% CI: 1.4-5.5). Further, there were significant associations with a consumption of alcohol exceeding 1 alcoholic unit/day. CONCLUSIONS: Anxiety symptoms are very common in older subjects, especially when medically ill. Depression and alcohol consumption often co-occur with late-life anxiety symptoms, thus requiring special attention in daily clinical practice.

Prevalence and gender differences in late-life depression: a population-based study.

OBJECTIVE: The worldwide phenomenon of an aging population combined with the increasing prevalence of depression in late life are issues that need to be addressed. This study aims to estimate the frequency of depression and subthreshold depression occurring in a sample of cognitively well-functioning, community-dwelling, older Italian adults and to investigate sociodemographic and clinical correlates of depression, exploring gender differences. METHODS: We used a cross-sectional analyses of survivors in a population-based study (the Faenza Project) that included 359 subjects aged 74 years and older (49.3% women). A modified version of Cambridge Examination for Mental Disorders of Elderly Persons-Revised was administered to all participants. Prevalence rates of depression and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated according to International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision criteria. Statistical analyses were implemented to describe sociodemographic and clinical features associated with depression. Odds ratios were estimated by multivariate logistic regression, and the dependant variable was any type of depression. RESULTS: Overall prevalence of depression was 25.1% (95% CI: 20.6-29.6), with no evidence of gender difference. Prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe depression was 16.4% (95% CI: 12.6-20.2), 7.5% (95% CI: 4.8-10.2), and 1.1 (95% CI: -0.4-2.6), respectively. A rate of 5.6% of the population complained of subthreshold depressive symptoms. After age 81, depression occurrence decreased as age increased. The association between depression and functional measures, such as primary activity, mobility, and disability in performing household chores, were stronger in men than in women. Similarly, severely disabling conditions like stroke were more strongly associated with depression in men than in women. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest a disparity between men and women regarding the impact of depression on everyday life. Specific gender differences need to be taken into account for the evaluation of the depression-related burden in late life.

Lack of association between interleukin-1 alpha rs1800587 polymorphism and Alzheimer's disease in two Independent European samples.

Interleukin-1 (IL1) can contribute to pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) by promoting deposition of amyloid-beta in the brain. The gene encoding IL1 alpha (IL1A) has a common polymorphism in its 5' regulatory region (rs1800587) with possible functional effects. IL1A T/T genotype has been associated with AD but the overall effect is modest and negative studies have been published. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of the IL1A rs1800587 polymorphism with AD in two independent case-control groups from Greece (Athens) and Italy (Faenza and Granarolo). Preliminary results from the ongoing sample (110 patients with sporadic AD and 130 nonpsychiatric controls) showed no association between IL1A variants and AD, however C/T heterozygotes had more severe depression in AD (Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia) compared to other genotypes (F = 4.56, d.f = 1, p = 0.037) after controlling for age, illness duration and cognitive impairment (MMSE). Despite the small sample size and the possibility of a false negative finding, our preliminary data support the hypothesis the IL1A rs1800587 variants are not associated with AD. The effect of the IL1A on depressive symptomatology warrants further investigations, however the lack of a gene-dose relationship would suggest a false positive.