Old Age Psychiatry: research
1. Clinical study of cases of severe domestic squalor in Central Sydney (John Snowdon and Graeme Halliday).
(a) In the nine and a half years over which the data-base has been developed, over 130 cases have been studied, and the one-year outcome in most cases has been observed. The Environmental Cleanliness and Clutter Scale (Halliday and Snowdon, 2009, in press) is being used to rate domestic environments. Guidelines for intervention are in press and further papers are in preparation. Catholic Healthcare have developed a squalor hotline project from which data will be available to complement our catchment area information. The data-base will continue to expand.
(b) A scale for rating environmental cleanliness and clutter has been developed, and its validity is being assessed. Findings will be presented in Osaka in October 2007.
(c) Assessments of a number of people who live in severe domestic squalor have been compared with comparable data gathered from matched controls, looking particularly at evidence of frontal lobe pathology. Analysis is proceeding and a paper is in preparation.
2. Psychological autopsy study of people aged 35 years or more who killed themselves (Diego De Leo, Brian Draper, John Snowdon). A comparison with a sample who died suddenly in accidents or from another cause. Funded through ARC. We have completed data collection and analysis is in progress.
3. Depression and Early Prevention of Suicide in General Practice Project (Osvaldo Almeida, Jon Pfaff, Brian Draper, John Snowdon and others). Multi-state study of over 20,000 patients, seen by over 300 GPs. Funded through NHMRC. Analysis is being completed. Various papers have been published.
4. Medication use in nursing homes in Central Sydney. Funded by Janssen-Cilag. Data is being collected. Special interest is being taken in anti-dementia drugs and antidepressant therapy, with examination of use of the Cornell Scale For Depression in Dementia.
Discipline researchers: John Snowdon, Graeme Halliday, Carmelo Aquilina.