Mood Disorders and Comorbidities in Older Adults

One hundred thirty-two individuals were recruited to this study in 2018–2022 in the Department of Clinical Nutrition and Gastroenterological Diagnostics and in the Department of Gastroenterology, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland. Initially, each patient was assessed for their mental condition using the modified Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) [27 (link)]. The following recommended criteria were adopted: a score of 0–7—no mental disorder; 8–12—mild depression; 13–18—moderate depression; 19–29—severe depression; over 30—very severe depression. The quality of sleep was estimated by the Insomnia Severity Index [28 (link)] with our own modification, replacing the evaluation of the quality of life (0–4 points) with the assessment of shortening of sleeping time. The score was interpreted as follows: 0–7 points—absence of insomnia; 8–14—threshold insomnia; 15–21—moderate insomnia; and 22–28—severe insomnia. Depression and sleep disturbances were further collectively referred as to mood disorders. The inclusion criteria for the mood disorders group were ISI score above 14 and HAM-D score above 15. The inclusion criteria for the no mood disorder group were ISI below 9 and HAM-D score below 8. A total of 80 subjects, 62 women and 18 men, aged 74–85 years, were selected for further study. They were divided into two groups, 40 individuals each, with or without mood disorders.
Clinical tests were carried out to determine organic diseases. Mild hypertension (29/80–29.8%), stable coronary disease (15/80–18.7%), type 2 diabetes (19/80–23.75%), Hashimoto disease (11/80–13.25%), and gastrointestinal disorders (36–5.0%) were detected in some individuals. Exclusion criteria were very severe depression, circulatory or respiratory failure, advanced diabetes, liver diseases, renal failure, inflammatory bowel diseases, cancer, and taking psychotropic drugs or sleeping pills.