The Kimberley assessment of depression of older Indigenous Australians: prevalence of depressive disorders, risk factors and validation of the KICA-dep scale

This study aimed to develop a culturally acceptable and valid scale to assess depressive symptoms in older Indigenous Australians, to determine the prevalence of depressive disorders in the older Kimberley community, and to investigate the sociodemographic, lifestyle and clinical factors associated with depression in this population. Methods Cross-sectional survey of adults aged 45 years or over from six remote Indigenous communities in the Kimberley and 30% of those living in Derby, Western Australia. The 11 linguistic and culturally sensitive items of the Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment of Depression (KICA-dep) scale were derived from the signs and symptoms required to establish the diagnosis of a depressive episode according to the DSM-IV-TR and ICD-10 criteria, and their frequency was rated on a 4-point scale ranging from ‘never’ to ‘all the time’ (range of scores: 0 to 33). The diagnosis of depressive disorder was established after a face-to-face assessment with a consultant psychiatrist. Other measures included sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, and clinical history. Results The study included 250 participants aged 46 to 89 years (mean±SD = 60.9±10.7), of whom 143 (57.2%) were women. The internal reliability of the KICA-dep was 0.88 and the cut-point 7/8 (non-case/case) was associated with 78% sensitivity and 82% specificity for the diagnosis of a depressive disorder. The point-prevalence of a depressive disorder in this population was 7.7%; 4.0% for men and 10.4% for women. Heart problems were associated with increased odds of depression (odds ratio = 3.3, 95% confidence interval = 1.2,8.8). Conclusions The KICA-dep has robust psychometric properties and can be used with confidence as a screening tool for depression among older Indigenous Australians. Depressive disorders are common in this population, possibly because of increased stressors and health morbidities

Potentially suboptimal prescribing of medicines for older Aboriginal Australians in remote areas

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of polypharmacy, under-prescribing and potentially inappropriate medicine use among Aboriginal Australians living in remote Western Australia. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Six remote communities and the town of Derby in the Kimberley, Western Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Aboriginal people aged 45 years or more with complete medication histories. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Proportions of patients with medicine histories indicating polypharmacy, potential under-prescribing of indicated medicines, or potentially inappropriate prescribing (including potential prescribing cascades or drug interactions). RESULTS: Complete medicine histories were available for 273 participants. The mean number of prescribed medicines was 5.1 (SD, 3.6). At least one form of suboptimal prescribing was identified for 166 participants (61%), including polypharmacy for 145 (53%), potential under-prescribing of at least one indicated medicine for 33 (12%), and potentially inappropriate prescribing for 54 participants (20%). Potential prescribing cascades or drug interactions were identified for 12 participants (4%). CONCLUSIONS: Potentially suboptimal prescribing affected more than half the participating older Aboriginal Australians from the Kimberley. If generalisable to other remote Indigenous Australians, the prevalence of polypharmacy, potentially inappropriate prescribing, and under-prescribing of indicated medicines is problematic, and suggests that older Indigenous people in remote areas are at risk of medicine-related harm

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of KICA-Dep scores for the diagnosis of any depressive disorder according to ICD-10 Criteria for Research.

<p>A KICA-Dep cut-point of 7/8 (non-case/case) was associated with sensitivity of 78%, specificity of 82%, positive predictive value of 39% and negative predictive value of 96%. Sensitivity and specificity values for other cut-points were 89% and 63% for 4/5, 89% and 71% for 5/6, 78% and 80% for 6/7, 72% and 90% for 8/9, and 67% and 94% for 9/10.</p

Sociodemographic, lifestyle and clinical characteristics of older Indigenous Australians.

n<p>Number of participants for whom data were missing.</p

Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of Indigenous Australians older than 45 years with and without a current depressive disorder.

<p>df = degrees of freedom.</p>n<p>number of participants in the group for whom data were missing.</p