Patterns of Depression in Spanish and English Speaking Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease

Author(s)

Raymond L. Ownby, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Amarilis Acevedo, Nova Southeastern UniversityFollow
Dylan G. Harwood, Mount Sinai Medical Center
Warren Barker, University of South FloridaFollow
Ranjan Duara, University of South FloridaFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology

ISSN

0891-9887

Publication Date

3-2008

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether distinct subtypes of depression could be identified in patients with Alzheimer's disease and, if so, to evaluate the patients in these subgroups. Ratings on the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) of 306 patients with Alzheimer's disease, 129 of who were Spanish- and 177 English-speaking, were subjected to latent class analysis. Four subgroups were identified based on CSDD symptoms. These included an asymptomatic group, groups with mild and more severe typical depression, and a group characterized by prominent anxiety and irritability in addition to sadness. Group differences on demographic, cognitive, clinical, and functional status measures were explored via chi-square tests and analyses of variance. Results show that for some patients with Alzheimer's disease, patterns of symptoms of depression are similar to those in younger adult populations. A distinct subtype may exist, however, with prominent anxiety and irritability.

DOI

10.1177/0891988707311564

Volume

21

Issue

1

First Page

47

Last Page

55

NSUWorks Citation

Ownby, R. L., Acevedo, A., Harwood, D. G., Barker, W., Duara, R. (2008). Patterns of Depression in Spanish and English Speaking Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 21(1), 47-55.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/672