Depression, dementia and disability in the elderly.

A structured sample of mobile elderly patients in a rural community practice was assessed on validated rating scales for depression, dementia and disability. A total of 62% of the sample was abnormal on at least one variable. The overall prevalence of depression was 13%; the overall prevalence of dementia was either 10 or 18% depending on the criterion of Mental Test Score (MTS). Depression and dementia were related, depression being more common in females. In depressed and demented patients, MTS was age-related in those over 60 years; in depression alone, MTS was not age-related. Dementia was age-related, particularly over the age of 75. Disability increased with age and was more common in females. Disability was associated with both depression and dementia.

Normal erythrocyte sedimentation rate in the elderly.

Two hundred subjects aged 60-89 were selected for a study aimed at defining a reference range for the erythrocyte sedimentation rate in the elderly. The study extended a previous survey in subjects aged 20-65. The results confirmed that the sedimentation rate increases with age and that women have higher values than men but suggested that over half of elderly patients with disease would have rates within the previously defined "normal" range. It is therefore suggested that an erythrocyte sedimentation rate exceeding 19 mm in the first hour in elderly men and 22 mm in the first hour in elderly women warrants investigation.

A naturalistic study of hypertension in a rural U.K. community. 2 Years results.

A naturalistic study was set up to screen, identify and treat hypertensive patients aged 20-60 years in a rural general practice. 3,222 patients (92%) of a stable population of 3,489 were screened by 2 nurse research assistants and of these 455 patients (14%) were found to be hypertensive or borderline hypertensive. After careful assessment, 192 of these patients were found suitable for treatment and subsequently 138 entered the study. Two well recognised treatment regimes were used and no significant difference between patient response resulted. 84 patients (60.9%) completed the 2 year duration of the study discussed here. The cost of the study is not feasible in an average general practice, but day to day running of such a project, run along clearly defined treatment regimes was managed easily by 2 research assistants: this reduced, therefore, the work load on individual general practitioners.

Longer term effects of live influenza vaccine in patients with chronic pulmonary disease.

WRL 105 strain live influenza vaccine or placebo was given to patients with chronic bronchitis in a double-blind study. The twenty-one vaccinated and twenty-three placebo-treated patients made daily self-assessments of the severity of symptoms of cough, breathlessness, tightness, wheeze, and sputum production in the following 20 weeks. Symptom scores in the first 2 weeks after vaccination or treatment with placebo were used to calculate a baseline range for each patient. Comparison of symptoms in the two groups in the baseline period showed that symptoms were more often reported by vaccinated than by placebo-treated patients but the differences were not statistically significant. One patient who responded serologically to vaccination had a moderately severe influenzal illness starting on the day after vaccination. Comparison of symptom scores during the 18-week surveillance period with baseline values showed that symptoms of breathlessness, tightness, wheeze and cough were significantly more common in vaccinated than in placebo-treated patients and that antibiotic usage was more common in the vaccinated group.