Elderly Australians a tough bunch!

Apr 13 2009

Australian researchers say elderly Australians are tougher than is often assumed and are more resilient than people think.

A study by researchers at the Western Australian Centre for Health and Ageing surveyed more than 20,000 adults Australia-wide aged 60 years and over and has revealed that rates of depression in older Australian adults are not as high as previous research has suggested and depression amongst older adults is the exception rather than the rule.

According to Professor Osvaldo Almeida, Director of Research at the Centre, the results are very exciting because they confirm that poor physical health has a significant impact on mental well-being and, more importantly, that older people are mentally very resilient, and only significant physical disability seems to undermine good mental health.

Dr. Jon Pfaff, the study's lead author says the mind does not appear to suffer the effects of ageing in the same way that the body does and our minds remain young until very late in life. Dr. Pfaff says as around 80% of older Australian adults visit their general practitioner at least once a year, GPs are in a unique position to detect and address depression in this age group.

Previous research has shown that older people respond well to treatment - an estimated 8% of older Australian adults suffer from depression at some stage and it is predicted that depression will be the second leading cause of disability worldwide within the next 10 years, making it a major public health problem.

The study was funded by grants from the National Health and Medical Research council (NHMRC) and beyondblue: the national depression initiative and is published in the April 6th 2009 in the Medical Journal of Australia.