Year: 1997 Source: JAMA, v.278, no.14, (October 8, 1997), p.1186-1190 SIEC No: 19980269

The conclusions of the 1991 National Institutes of Health Consensus Panel on Diagnosis & Treatment of Depression in Late Life were reexamined. Although the initial consensus statement still holds, important new information is available in a number of areas including late-life depression as a risk factor for suicide. Late-onset, unipolar depression has been found to be a characteristic of elderly suicides. However, most elderly receive inadequate assessment or treatment for their depression.