Depression and self-reported functional status in older primary care patients

Objective: The authors' goal was to examine whether depression is associated with overreporting of functional disability. Method: The subjects were 304 patients 60 years old or older who were recruited from primary care settings. Measures included examiner ratings of depression diagnosis and medical burden and self-reported and examiner-rated functional assessments. Multiple regression techniques were used to determine the independent association of depression with self-reported function after examiner-rated function was added to the analysis as a covariate. Results: Depression diagnosis was associated with poorer self-reported role functioning, whether the patient attributed the disability to physical or emotional causes. Depression was not independently associated with poorer self-reported physical functioning. Conclusions: Clinicians and researchers should recognize that depression can confound the self-reporting and attribution of functional disability.