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Background: The present study explored the patterns of physical comorbidities and their associated demographic and clinical factors in older psychiatric patients prescribed with antidepressants in Asia., Methods: Demographic and clinical information of 955 older adults were extracted from the database of the Research on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Patterns for Antidepressants (REAP-AD) project. Standardized data collection procedure was used to record demographic and clinical data., Results: Proportion of physical comorbidities in this cohort was 44%. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that older age (OR = 1.7, P < 0.001), higher number of depressive symptoms (OR = 1.09, P = 0.016), being treated in psychiatric hospital (OR = 0.5, P = 0.002), living in high income countries/territories (OR = 2.4, P = 0.002), use of benzodiazepines (OR = 1.4, P = 0.013) and diagnosis of 'other psychiatric disorders' (except mood, anxiety disorders and schizophrenia) (OR = 2.7, P < 0.001) were significantly associated with physical comorbidities., Conclusions: Physical comorbidities in older patients prescribed with antidepressants were common in Asia. Integrating physical care into the treatment of older psychiatric patients should be urgently considered., (© 2018 Japanese Psychogeriatric Society.)

Background: Little is known about the characteristics of older adults with cognitive impairment in Macao. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of cognitive impairment and the quality of life (QOL) of older adults living in the community and nursing homes., Methods: A consecutive sample of 413 subjects (199 from the community; 214 from nursing homes) was recruited and interviewed using standardized instruments. Cognition was measured with the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status and QOL with the brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument., Results: Altogether 87 subjects (21.0%) had cognitive impairment. On multivariate analyses, advanced age (P < 0.001, OR = 1.06, 95%CI: 1.03-1.1) and depressive symptoms (P = 0.03, OR = 1.07, 95%CI: 0.005-1.1) were positively associated with cognitive impairment. Married marital status (P = 0.01, OR = 0.3, 95%CI: 0.1-0.7) and higher education level (P < 0.001, OR = 0.1, 95%CI: 0.06-0.3) were negatively associated with cognitive impairment. After the confounders were controlled for, cognitive impairment was significantly associated with the lower psychological (F (11,412) = 6.3, P = 0.01) and social relationship domains of QOL (F (11,412) = 4.0, P = 0.04)., Conclusion: Cognitive impairment was found to be common in community-dwelling and nursing home resident older adults in Macao. Given cognitive impairment's negative impact on QOL, appropriate strategies should be implemented to improve access to treatment in this population., (© 2018 Japanese Psychogeriatric Society.)

Purpose: To examine the prevalence of sleep disturbances (difficulty initiating sleep [DIS], difficulty maintaining sleep [DMS], and early morning awakening [EMA]), their socio-demographic and clinical correlates, and quality of life (QOL) in older adults in Macao., Design and Methods: Four hundred fifty-one subjects were interviewed using standardized instruments., Findings: The prevalence of at least one type of sleep disturbance was 38.1%; the figures of DIS, DMS, and EMA were 18.6, 31.3, and 23.9%, respectively. Female sex and depressive symptoms were independently associated with more frequent sleep disturbances. Sleep disturbances were independently associated with lower physical QOL., Practice Implications: Sleep disturbances are common in older adults in Macao. Appropriate strategies should be implemented to prevent and treat sleep disturbances and concerted attempts should be made to improve access to treatment., (© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Aim: This study compared the demographics, clinical characteristics, and antidepressant prescription patterns between Asian patients aged 50 years and older attending psychiatric hospitals and those attending general hospitals., Methods: In total, 955 patients (604 in general hospitals, 351 in psychiatric hospitals) aged 50 years or older treated with antidepressants in 10 Asian countries and territories were examined. Patients' demographics, clinical features, and prescriptions of psychotropic drugs were recorded using a standardized protocol and data collection procedure., Results: Binary logistic regression revealed that high income and diagnosis of schizophrenia were independently associated with psychiatric hospital treatment, whereas outpatient care, diagnosis of anxiety disorders, and multiple major medical conditions were independently associated with general hospital treatment. In addition, tetracyclic and noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressants were more likely to be prescribed in general hospitals., Conclusion: Older adults treated with antidepressants showed different demographic and clinical features between general hospitals and psychiatric hospitals in Asia., (© 2017 Japanese Psychogeriatric Society.)

Aim: There have been no previous studies of quality of life (QOL) in older adults in Macao. This study aimed to examine QOL in relation to the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of adults aged ≥50 years in Macao., Methods: A sample of 451 subjects (203 living in the community, 248 living in nursing homes) was interviewed using standardized instruments. Basic sociodemographic and clinical data including QOL were collected., Result: There were no significant differences between the community and nursing home groups in any of the QOL domains. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that poor physical QOL was significantly predicted by severe depressive symptoms, insomnia, major medical conditions, unmarried status, and lower education ( F 11,438  = 26.2, P < 0.001), which accounted for 38.2% of the variance. Poor psychological QOL was significantly predicted by severe depressive symptoms and lower educational level ( F 11,438  = 24.3, P < 0.001), which accounted for 36.4% of the variance. Poor social QOL was significantly predicted by severe depressive symptoms, male gender, and unmarried status ( F 11,438  = 5.6, P < 0.001), which accounted for 12.5% of the variance. Poor environment QOL was significantly predicted by lower educational level, severe depressive symptoms, and younger age ( F 11,438  = 6.6, P < 0.001), which accounted for 12.1% of the variance., Conclusion: Older Macanese adults had poorer scores on physical and social QOL domains than the general Hong Kong Chinese population. Their QOL was more strongly related to severe depressive symptoms, major medical conditions, and insomnia., (© 2017 Japanese Psychogeriatric Society.)