Depression is a very common condition in the elderly, underdiagnosed and often an emerging public health issue, especially in developed countries where population is aging.

The participants (103 patients) age 55 years or more, with diagnosis of Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, Mood disorders and Mental disorders due to general medical condition. The depressive status of the participants was determined clinically, using the GDS and the Cornell scale for depression in dementia when MMSE was > 15.

Of the 103 inpatients, 87 had MMSE score less than 24 and were included in the analysis. 23.1% had been clinically diagnosed as suffering from depression and taking antidepressants although 53.8% had CDS>6 and 57.3% had Cornell score >11 both indicative of depression. It appeared that clinicians were able to detect mainly severe major depression with mean CDS score=10.50, (sd=1.5) and mean Cornell score=18 (sd=4.3).

In our sample of an elderly long term inpatient population with primary diagnosis of serious mental disorder, depression was under diagnosed and undertreated. Only severe major depression was detected.

It appears that psychometric scales like Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) are valuable instruments for the detection of depression in elderly populations. As depression is very good in hiding or camouphlage its’ symptoms as part of other disorders, regular use of psychometric scales could prove to be an easy way to detect early signs of depression and treat accordingly.