IPA Press Releases

Depression among elderly affects quality of life more than strokes, diabetes, cancer and other serious ailments.

VANCOUVER, B.C. (Aug. 16, 1999) - A highlight of opening day at the ninth IPA international congress was the recognition of outstanding research in the field of psychogeriatrics.

The International Psychogeriatric Association, with the support of Bayer AG, works to encourage, recognize and reward high-quality psychogeriatric research. Biennially, since 1989, IPA and Bayer have presented the prestigious IPA/Bayer Research Awards for the best original, unpublished research in psychogeriatrics.

Researchers from all cultures and all nations are invited to apply. Papers must be written in English. For the 1999 Awards, 43 papers were submitted from 17 nations.

And the winners were:

• FIRST - Jürgen Unützer, MD, MPH (Los Angeles - USA) with Donald L. Patrick, PhD, MSPH; Paula Diehr, PhD; Greg Simon, MD, MPH; David Grembowski, PhD; Wayne Katon, MD) for a paper entitled: "Quality adjusted life years in older adults with depressive symptoms and chronic medical disorders."

  The researchers compared elderly victims of severe "depression" to those who had many other chronic and debilitating diseases. IPA president Dr. Barry Reisberg, who presented the award, said: "They found that depression had a greater effect on quality of life than such conditions as stroke, cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure."

• SECOND - Sarvada Chandra Tiwari, MD, MNAMS (Lucknow - India) - a study of "Geriatric Psychiatric Morbidity in Rural Northern India – Implications for Future"

  Dr. Tiwari's study documents that there are almost 30 million psychogeriatrically ill persons in India, but few resources to treat the problem and little specialty training of the country's professionals. India has made astonishing strides in life expectancy. But Dr. Tiwari says: "We have to realize that adding life to years is more important than adding years to life."

• THIRD - Linda A. Gerdner, RN, PhD (Little Rock, AK - USA) - Research related to "The Effects of Individualized vs. Classical Relaxation Music on the Frequency of Agitation in Elderly Persons with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders"

  Most patients suffering from severe dementia go through period of extreme agitation, physically hurting themselves and others. Physical restraint or calming drugs have been the only tools available to caregivers to prevent serious injury, yet studies have demonstrated that keeping a patient strapped in place actually increases the problem and frequency of accidents. Music has long been known to have a calming effect, but Dr. Gerdner - a nurse - questioned common assumptions about types of music. She contrasted conventional classical music with the results from music known to be favored by the individual patient, proving the latter to be demonstrably more effective.