This study is the first, to our knowledge, to investigate
major depression among elderly recipients of home care nursing in the United States. Several investigators have reported
high prevalence rates of depressive syndromes in
elderly recipients of home-based health and social services
in other countries (13–17). U.S. investigations have
generally relied on convenience samples (18–20), chart diagnoses
(21), or symptom screens (19, 20), which limit
their utility for determining treatment needs (2, 3)