Abstracts

Rationale: Depression is common in nursing home residents. Our group is currently studying elderly nursing home residents who are on antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy. This study is designed to determine the correlation between AED concentrations and outcomes. Methods: Inclusion criteria were nursing home residents who were taking particular AEDs as part of current clinical care, residents over the age of 60 years, and residents who did not reside in a rehabilitative care unit. Information on age, gender, race, and nursing home location were collected. A research study nurse asked each resident a set of 5 questions contained on the GDS-5 questionnaire at each of 4 visits at which time a neurological examination and blood for AED levels were obtained. The five question Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-5) was used in this study due to its brevity and prior use in the nursing home population. Additional data collected included diagnosis, concomitant medications, and Minimum Data Set (MDS) information. For the GDS-5 data, distributions were compared by the exact contingency table test and ANOVA. Mean scores were compared via ANOVA with Tukey adjustment for multiple group comparisons. Results: A total of 24 subjects from three nursing homes were included. The average age was 77.8 years ± 9.6 (SD) and a majority of residents were women (N=14, 58%). The mean GDS-5 scores were different among the three nursing homes studied (0.83, 3.33, and 2.27). Distribution of scores differed significantly across nursing homes (p<=0.0181). Mean scores were significantly different for one nursing home compared to the other two nursing homes (p=0.002 and 0.008). Conclusions: The GDS-5 mean score for one nursing home differed substantially from the other nursing homes in this study. This could be an indication that residents in this nursing home were not as depressed as those in other nursing homes or that they were treated for depression more effectively. These possibilities will be explored in further analyses including information on diagnosis, medications, and MDS results. Funding supported by: NINDS P-50 NS16308 and NIH NIA 5R01AG026390.