THE EFFECT OF STROKE ON SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF DEPRESSION IN ELDERLY NURSING HOME RESIDENTS (COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT).
Contributors: Texas A & M University.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 133
Subjects: Education, Guidance and Counseling.; Gerontology.; Education, Health.; Psychology, Clinical.
Description: This study examines how selected characteristics of depression in elderly nursing home residents are affected by the presence of stroke. Data were collected during individual interviews with 44 residents (23 stroke and 21 nonstroke) of three nursing homes in southeast Texas. Depression was defined as a score of 11 or above on the Geriatric Depression Scale/Amended (GDS/Amended) (Snowden & Donnelly, 1986). Four groups were designated: depressed stroke, depressed nonstroke, nondepressed stroke, and nondepressed nonstroke.

Cognitive impairment was assessed by the Mini-Mental State (MMS) (M. F. Folstein, S. E. Folstein & McHugh, 1975). Perception of social resources was measured by the Older Americans Resources and Services (OARS) Social Resources Scale/Institutional (Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, 1978). Observed anxiety and observed crying were recorded during the interview. A questionnaire developed by the author measured the remaining variables. An alpha level of.05 was used to establish statistical significance.

The effect of stroke on characteristics of depression in elderly nursing home residents was found to be significant for reported loss of energy. Most subjects in the depressed nonstroke, nondepressed stroke, and nondepressed nonstroke groups reported no loss of energy. But about half (54 percent) of the depressed stroke group reported loss of energy. A significant difference for expressed anxiety was found among the four groups; subjects in the depressed stroke, nondepressed stroke, and depressed nonstroke groups tended to express anxiety, whereas the nondepressed nonstroke subjects tended not to express anxiety. A significant main effect was found for depression (as measured by the GDS/Amended) on cognitive impairment (as measured by the MMS). Depressed subjects were more cognitively impaired than nondepressed subjects. No significant difference among groups was found for loss of interest in activities, presence of somatic complaints, observed anxiety, observed crying, perception of social resources, expressed guilt, presence of sleep problems, decreased appetite, weight loss, and denial of depression. A nonhypothesized variable for complaints of memory problems, from a GDS/Amended question, was significant as none of the nondepressed subjects made memory complaints, whereas 46 percent of the depressed subjects made memory complaints.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-12, Section: A, page: 4206.

Thesis (PH.D.)--TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, 1992.

School code: 0803.