Depression in Older Adults: Do Current DSM Diagnostic Criteria Really Fit?

Objectives: The great heterogeneity in symptoms and clinical signs of depression in older adults makes the current diagnostic criteria difficult to apply. This scoping review aims to provide an update on the relevance of each of the diagnostic criteria as defined in the DSM-5.

Methods: In order to limit the risk of bias inherent in the study selection process, a priori inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined.

Psychometric properties of the Perceived Social Support Questionnaire (PSSQ), a new measure of perceived social support among older adults.

Objective: Based on literature and available questionnaires, the present study aimed at creating and validating the Perceived Social Support Questionnaire (PSSQ): a 4-item scale assessing the perceived social support in older adults. Normative scores were also computed.

Methods: Three hundred and two participants (mean age 87.

Routinization: risk factor or marker of adjustment to negative health issues?

Objectives: Routinization reflects how older people cope with the health problems. It remains to be seen whether it should be considered as a risk factor of negative health outcomes, or rather, a mechanism of adjustment to health issues: mortality, institutionalization, dementia, disability, cognitive decline, depression and subjective health.

Methods: From longitudinal data of two large-scale French epidemiological studies, the study sample consists of 961 participants aged 77 years on average, living at home and with no neurocognitive disorder.

Older Adults and the COVID-19 Pandemic, What About the Oldest Old? The PACOVID Population-Based Survey.

The literature draws a mitigated picture of the psychosocial effects of the lockdown in older adults. However, the studies conducted so far are mainly based on web surveys which may involve selection bias. The PACOVID survey relies on a population-based design and addresses the attitudes, psychological and social experiences of the oldest old regarding the pandemic and lockdown and their impact.

Living in rural area: A protective factor for a negative experience of the lockdown and the COVID-19 crisis in the oldest old population?

Objectives: Some factors influence the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic (health, loneliness, digital access...

Similarities in cognitive abilities in older couples: a study of mutual influences.

: Similarities between spouses in cognitive functions have been mainly explained by the assortative mating phenomenon and the convergence for age and education. The mutual influence between spouses is another explanation particularly relevant in the elderly population. Today, it remains difficult to determine whether cognitive similarities exclusively result from the convergence effect or from the mutual influence.

Study of mutual influence between trait anxiety and risk of depression among older couples facing cancer.

Introduction: The present study aims to examine the process of mutual influence in older couples with cancer diagnosis by studying their risk of depression.

Materials And Methods: 282 couples with one spouse diagnosed with cancer were selected from the Three-City cohort study. Dyadic analyses were used to determine whether trait anxiety affects the risk of depression and whether a mutual influence process occurs prior and post cancer diagnosis.

Validation of Short Form of Preferences for Routines Scale: Norms in Older Adults.

High level of preferences for routines is an indicator of psychological vulnerability in older adults. However, the psychometric properties of the Preferences for Routines Scale (PRS) initially validated in a small selected sample of older adults revealed a low Cronbach's α (.50) in the general elderly population.

Influence of pre-admission factors on quality of life and adaptation in nursing home residents with dementia: the QOL-EHPAD study protocol.

Background: In 2015 in France, 585,560 people were nursing home residents. A large body of studies has identified predictors of poor quality of life and poor adaptation in institution, mostly for residents without dementia. With 42 to 72% of these residents diagnosed with dementia, it is crucial to identify what factors prior to admission might have an impact on quality of life once the admission is finalized, in order to target specific domains of intervention, while the person still lives at home and after his/her admission.

A Subjective Quality of Life Proxy for Older Adults in the PAQUID Cohort Study.

Objectives: Quality of life is regarded as a major outcome in epidemiologic research, especially in the older population. Nevertheless, some cohort studies lack a specific instrument to evaluate it. The aim of this study was to propose a subjective quality of life proxy using easily accessible items, available in most epidemiologic studies.

A comprehensive approach of the determinants of use of care in dementia: the Recaredem (recourse to care in dementia) cross-sectional study.

Background: Given the rate of the undiagnosed cases of dementia and the consequences of inappropriate care, understanding the factors that explain the use of medical and health care in dementia is a critical concern. Our objective was to identify the psychosocial and medical determinants of use of care in dementia.

Methods: The study sample consisted of 308 participants: the persons with dementia (n = 99) selected from three French population-based cohorts (i.

Anxiety and 10-Year Risk of Incident Dementia-An Association Shaped by Depressive Symptoms: Results of the Prospective Three-City Study.

Anxiety is common in patients with cognitive impairment and dementia. However, whether anxiety is a risk factor for dementia is still not known. We aimed to examine the association between trait anxiety at baseline and the 10-year risk of incident dementia to determine to which extent depressive symptoms influence this relationship in the general population.

Comparing the predictive value of three definitions of frailty: Results from the Three-City study.

Background: Despite several attempts to reach a single definition of frailty, no consensus has been reached. The definitions previously published have tried to prove its utility in predicting negative health outcomes. The objective of the present study is to compare the predictive value of 3 different frailty instruments, for selected outcomes.

Description of general practitioners' practices when suspecting cognitive impairment. Recourse to care in dementia (Recaredem) study.

Objective: General practitioners (GPs) play a major role in the assessment of dementia but it is still unrecognized in primary care and its management is heterogeneous. Our objective is to describe the usual practices, and their determinants, of French GPs in this field.

Methods: GPs' characteristics and practices when facing cognitive decline were collected through a telephone interview and a postal questionnaire.

Gray matter characteristics associated with trait anxiety in older adults are moderated by depression.

Background: Structural gray matter characteristics of anxiety remain unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of current depressive symptoms and history of depression on the gray matter characteristics of trait anxiety.

Methods: Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 393 individuals aged 65 years or older were used.

Short STAI-Y anxiety scales: validation and normative data for elderly subjects.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop short forms of the STAI-Y trait and state scales and associated norms suitable for the screening of anxiety in elderly populations.

Method: This study was based on population-based cohorts of older persons from two epidemiological French studies that each included one subscale of the STAI-Y, i.e.

[Construct and validation of a quality of life's scale for older French people].

Given changing and subjective aspects of quality of life, the current assessment scales are often encompassing and not very adapted for older people. Thus, the present validation study has several objectives: 1) To elaborate a specific measure of the quality of life of older people, given the characteristics and problems of this population; 2) To propose a simple scale to use for any health care professional and fast passation to encourage the inclusion of such measures in the framework of a comprehensive care of the elderly; 3) To validate this scale in a large cohort of retired older farmers. This scale resulted in 14 items illustrating the various dimensions of quality of life of older people.

Neurocognitive insight and executive functioning in schizophrenia.

Introduction: This study explored whether integrity of executive functioning is required for good neurocognitive insight (NI) in subjects with schizophrenia.

Methods: NI was measured by subtracting executive difficulties (errors in the Modified Card Sorting Task) from executive cognitive complaints (Subjective Scale to Investigate Cognition in Schizophrenia) in 40 outpatients with schizophrenia and 42 normal controls. The schizophrenia sample was a priori divided into two subgroups on the basis of executive level.

Cognitive decline after entering a nursing home: a 22-year follow-up study of institutionalized and noninstitutionalized elderly people.

Objective: The objective of this study is to compare cognitive decline of elderly people after entering an institution with that of elders living in the community with similar clinical conditions.

Design: The Personnes Agées QUID (PAQUID) cohort is a prospective population-based study which included, at baseline, 3777 community-dwelling people aged 65 years and older. Participants were followed-up for 22 years.

Restriction in instrumental activities of daily living in older persons: association with preferences for routines and psychological vulnerability.

Disabilities in the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) are frequently observed in older adults. A restriction in the daily life activities in the elderly may be related to a process of routinization induced by homogenization of activities, in addition to its association with emotional states. The relationship between level of functional disability for IADLs and preferences for routines was explored in 207 non-demented French participants (Mage = 84.

Daily life functioning of community-dwelling elderly couples: an investigation of the feasibility and validity of Ecological Momentary Assessment.

Although ambulatory data collection techniques have been used in elderly populations, their feasibility and validity amongst elderly individuals with cognitive impairment and amongst couples remains unexplored. The main objective of this study is to examine the validity of Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) in elderly persons with or without cognitive impairment and their spouses. The sample included 58 retired farmers (mean 77.

Psychosocial correlates of nutritional status of family caregivers of persons with dementia.

Background: This exploratory study investigated the associations of individual characteristics of both persons with dementia and family caregivers with the nutritional status of caregivers.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at home by psychogerontologist within the frame of a community gerontological center in rural areas of south west France. The study participants comprised 56 community-dwelling persons with dementia (mean 80.

State anxiety and cognitive functioning in older adults.

Objective: To assess the relationship between state anxiety and performance on neuropsychological tests in older adults.

Methods: Nine hundred fifty-five community-dwelling individuals without dementia age 66 and over were evaluated at home by a psychologist. State anxiety was measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Y.