The Construct of Minor and Major Depression in Alzheimer’s Disease

A consecutive series of 670 patients with probable Alzheimer’s disease were assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. 26% of the patients had major depression, 26% had minor depression, & 48% were not depressed. Depressive symptoms that most strongly discriminated between Alzheimer’s disease patients with & without sad mood were guilty ideation, suicide ideation, loss of energy, insomnia, weight loss, psychomotor retardation/agitation, poor concentration, & loss of interest. (31 refs)