Epidemiology of depression in old age – results of the Leipzig Longitudinal Study of the Aged (LEILA 75+)

Background: Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in old age. In order to assess future needs of the health care system for prevention and treatment, information on epidemiology of depression among the highest age groups is re-quired. However, most previous studies just focused on prevalence and incidence rates of late life depression across the entire old age. Methods: For a population-based sample of 1,265 elderly individuals aged 75 years and older, prevalence and incidence rates as well as risk factors of depression were determined. Individuals were requested every 1.5 years over six waves. D…