Physicians

Vice Chair of Faculty, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Vice Chair, Academic Development

Departments / Divisions

• Psychiatry / Geriatric Psychiatry
• Community and Family Medicine

Address
DUMC 3003
Durham, NC 27710

Appointment Telephone
919-684-4128

Office Telephone
919-684-4128

Fax Telephone
919-684-8569

Training

• MD, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, 1969

Residency

• Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, 1973-1975

Fellowship

• Consultation Liaison Psychiatry, Montefiore Hospital (New York), 1975-1976

Other Training

• PhD, Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1980

Clinical Interests
Geriatric psychiatry, mood and anxiety disorders, psychiatry and religion

Research Interests
I am working on four research projects.  The first, the Established Populations for Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (EPESE), included a study demonstrating that sleep complaints are more frequent in white compared to blacks, even when relevant demographic variables are controlled.  In a second study, day-time napping was a significant predictor of mortality.  A third study in the Piedmont of North Carolina revealed no difference in utilization or satisfaction with health services when urban elders were compared with rural elders.  In a fourth study, self-rated health was not as strong a predictor of mortality, as has been found in previous studies, especially when controlling for important covariates.

A second research endeavor has been with the National Comorbidity Study.  I led investigators who demonstrated that the prevalence of major depression is higher than previously estimated in national samples of persons between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five in the community and discussed the methodological issues that may contribute to this differing estimate.  The risk-factor profile of pure major depression was compared with comorbid major depression.  I will continue in this research during 1994/95 to look at Seasonal Affective Disorders (SAD).

I have spent considerable time during 1994/97 working on four books.  I co-edited the second edition of Geriatric Psychiatry, to be published in the late winter of 1994 or early spring of 1995.  I am working on a single author book, Freud vs. God: The End of the Debate/How Psychiatry Lost Its Soul and Christianity Lost Its Mind and on a research methods textbook for clinical psychiatry research.  I have produced a second edition of Emotional Problems in Later Life.

Industry Relationships and Collaborations (What's this?)

This physician has no reported relationships with industry.

Representative Publications
Blazer DG, Burchett BB, Fillenbaum GG. APOE epsilon4 and low cholesterol as risks for depression in a biracial elderly community sample. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2002 Sep-Oct;10(5):515-20. (2002) Abstract

Blazer DG, Hays JC, Musick MA. Abstinence versus alcohol use among elderly rural Baptists: a test of reference group theory and health outcomes. Aging Ment Health. 2002 Feb;6(1):47-54. (2002) Abstract

Blazer DG, Moody-Ayers S, Craft-Morgan J, Burchett B. Depression in diabetes and obesity: racial/ethnic/gender issues in older adults. J Psychosom Res. 2002 Oct;53(4):913-6. (2002) Abstract

Blazer DG. Self-efficacy and depression in late life: a primary prevention proposal. Aging Ment Health. 2002 Nov;6(4):315-24. (2002) Abstract

Bohannon AD, Fillenbaum GG, Pieper CF, Hanlon JT, Blazer DG. Relationship of race/ethnicity and blood pressure to change in cognitive function. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2002 Mar;50(3):424-9. (2002) Abstract

Connor KM, Davidson JR, Hughes DC, Swartz MS, Blazer DG, George LK. The impact of borderline personality disorder on post-traumatic stress in the community: a study of health status, health utilization, and functioning. Compr Psychiatry. 2002 Jan-Feb;43(1):41-8. (2002) Abstract

Fillenbaum GG, Blazer DG, Burchett BM, Saunders AM, Taylor DH Jr. Apolipoprotein E epsilon4 and risk of mortality in African American and white older community residents. Gerontologist. 2002 Jun;42(3):381-6. (2002) Abstract

Hybels CF, Pieper CF, Blazer DG. Sex differences in the relationship between subthreshold depression and mortality in a community sample of older adults. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2002 May-Jun;10(3):283-91. (2002) Abstract

Blazer DG, Bradford W, Reilly C: Duke's 3rd year: A 35 Year Retrospective. Teaching and Learning in Medicine. 13:192-198, 2001. (2001)

Blazer DG, Fillenbaum G, Burchett B. The APOE-E4 allele and the risk of functional decline in a community sample of African American and white older adults. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2001 Dec;56(12):M785-9. (2001) Abstract

Blazer DG, Hybels CF, Pieper CF. The association of depression and mortality in elderly persons: a case for multiple, independent pathways. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2001 Aug;56(8):M505-9. (2001) Abstract

Blazer DG, Landerman LR, Hays JC, Grady TA, Havlik R, Corti MC. Blood pressure and mortality risk in older people: comparison between African Americans and whites. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2001 Apr;49(4):375-81. (2001) Abstract

Blazer DG: Depression, in Maddox GL (Editor): The Encyclopedia of Aging (Third Edition). New York, Springer, pp. 287-289, 2001 (2001)

Blazer DG: NIMH Epidemiologic Catchment Area Project, in Maddox GL (Editor): The Encyclopedia of Aging (Third Edition). New York, Springer, pp. 727, 2001 (2001)

Blazer DG: Suicide, in Maddox GL (Editor): The Encyclopedia of Aging (Third Edition). New York, Springer, pp. 992, 993, 2001 (2001)

Blazer, DG: Life is with people. The Gerontologist. 41:695-698, 2001 (2001)

Fillenbaum GG, Landerman LR, Blazer DG, Saunders AM, Harris TB, Launer LJ. The relationship of APOE genotype to cognitive functioning in older African-American and Caucasian community residents. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2001 Sep;49(9):1148-55. (2001) Abstract

Horner RD, Cohen HJ, Blazer DG. Accuracy of self-reported stroke among elderly veterans. Aging Ment Health. 2001 Aug;5(3):275-81. (2001) Abstract