Grief and loss in old age: Exploration of the association between grief and depression.

BACKGROUND: The proportion of older adults is increasing due to demographic changes. Depression belongs to the most common mental disorders in late life. The loss of an emotionally significant person is a risk factor for the development of depression. The aim of this study is to analyze the association between depression and grief burden resulting from loss. Based on prior evidence, we examined loneliness as a possible mediator and social support as possible moderator of this association. METHODS: The cross-sectional analyses are based on a sample (N = 863) of study participants aged 75+ (M = 81.4 years, SD = 4.4, 62.2% female) with loss experience deriving from the multicenter prospective German cohort study AgeMooDe. Regression analyses (moderated mediation) were performed. RESULTS: With increasing age (ß = 0.10, p = .005) and grief burden (ß = 0.33, p <. 001) depression severity increased. There was an indirect mediating effect of loneliness on the correlation of grief burden and depression (b = 0.04, CI [0.03, 0.05]), but no moderating effect of social support on the correlation of grief burden and loneliness. People living alone had a significantly higher risk of depression, increased loneliness and lack of social support. LIMITATIONS: Assessments were based on self-reporting and recorded dimensionally. The cross-sectional design limits conclusions about directions and causality of associations. Sampling bias cannot be completely excluded. CONCLUSION: The study provides empirical evidence and a better understanding of the association between grief and depression among the very old and the mediating role of loneliness.

Longitudinal Analysis of Outpatient Physician Visits in the Oldest Old: Results of the AgeQualiDe Prospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify determinants of outpatient health care utilization among the oldest old in Germany longitudinally. DESIGN: Multicenter prospective cohort "Study on Needs, health service use, costs and health-related quality of life in a large sample of oldest-old primary care patients (85+)" (AgeQualiDe). SETTING: Individuals in very old age were recruited via GP offices at six study centers in Germany. The course of outpatient health care was observed over 10 months (two waves). PARTICIPANTS: Primary care patients aged 85 years and over (at baseline: n=861, with mean age of 89.0 years±2.9 years; 85-100 years). MEASUREMENTS: Self-reported numbers of outpatient visits to general practitioners (GP) and specialists in the past three months were used as dependent variables. Widely used scales were used to quantify explanatory variables (e.g., Geriatric Depression Scale, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale, or Global Deterioration Scale). RESULTS: Fixed effects regressions showed that increases in GP visits were associated with increases in cognitive impairment, whereas they were not associated with changes in marital status, functional decline, increasing number of chronic conditions, increasing age, and changes in social network. Increases in specialist visits were not associated with changes in the explanatory variables. CONCLUSION: Our findings underline the importance of cognitive impairment for GP visits. Creating strategies to postpone cognitive decline might be beneficial for the health care system.

Long-term patient satisfaction of external dacryocystorhinostomy.

PURPOSE: To evaluate patient's opinion on the long-term success of external dacryocystorhinostomy using the same quantitative parameter pre- and postoperatively. METHODS: A postal questionnaire was sent to 139 patients who had undergone external dacryocystorhinostomy. The only parameter for success of the treatment was the improvement of patient's subjective pre- and postoperative symptoms score. The duration of this follow-up ranged from 1 year up to 5 years postoperatively. Statistical analyses were performed using the Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks test and the chi2 test. RESULTS: According to the patient's own evaluation, external dacryocystorhinostomy is a successful operation. After 1 year the success percentage was 89%, after 2-3 years it was 79% and after 4-5 years it was 71%. CONCLUSION: External dacryocystorhinostomy is appreciated by the patients and considered a successful operation. The subjective evaluation of this operation should yield more creditability than objective methods.

Formation of proliferative vitreoretinopathy in primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.

Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is the only cause of ultimate failure following retinal detachment surgery. This study aimed to review the rate of postoperative PVR in a series of 186 consecutive patients with primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachments. All 186 detachments were repaired with a scleral buckling procedure combined with cryotherapy. Drainage of subretinal fluid was done at the discretion of the surgeon. The mean follow-up was 12 months. In this series 152 (82%) of primary detachments were repaired succesfully with a single operation. Sixty-eight percent of patients regained 0.3 or better visual acuity, and 3% of patients were left with visual acuity of 1/60 or less. After two or more operations the retina was attached in 96% of the cases. In 12 (6%) eyes PVR was responsible for the initial surgical failure. In 4 cases PVR (grade B and limited C) was present prior to surgery. In 3 cases PVR developed within 2 days postoperatively, in 3 cases after 3-6 weeks and in another 2 cases after 8-10 months. Eight out of 12 (66%) PVR patients had undergone cataract surgery. One PVR case had preoperative intraocular inflammation. An association between the duration of retinal detachment, or drainage of subretinal fluid and the development of PVR could not be demonstrated. In conclusion, the rate of postoperative PVR in primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachments was low. PVR preoperatively present and pseudophakia may be risk factors.