Mental illness is more common than dementia

A US study shows that newly admitted residents are more likely to have depression than dementia.

Mental illnesses such as depression are more common among newly admitted nursing home residents than dementia, according to a US study.

A group of researchers from Massachusetts reached the conclusion after examining the data on first-time nursing home admissions between 1999 and 2005.

They found that the number of new residents with mental illnesses jumped from 168,721 in 1999 to 187,478 in 2005. Among the same sample group, only 118,290 residents were admitted to nursing homes with dementia in 2005.

The researchers said the significant increase in the number of older people with mental illnesses was caused by higher levels of depression.

They also found that residents with depression on admission were much more likely to have other chronic health conditions than people who just had dementia.

The Minimum Data Set (MDS) was used to estimate the number of nursing home residents who had dementia or a mental illness – or both.

Depression was the most common mental illness among the cohort but the researchers also tested for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and anxiety disorder.

“Current trends show that the proportion of nursing home admissions with mental illness, in particular depression, has overtaken the proportion with dementia,” the researchers concluded.

“These changes may be related to increased recognition of depression, availability of alternatives to nursing homes for persons with dementia, and increased specialisation among [American] nursing homes in the care of post-acute, rehabilitation residents.”

They recommend that nursing homes obtain more resources to treat people with depression.

Tags: dementia, depression, mental-health, residential-aged-care,

Leave a Reply