Ageing with psychosis – Fifty and beyond

Abstract

Objective: While there is considerable current emphasis on youth and early psychosis, relatively little is known about the lives of people who live with psychotic disorders into middle age and beyond. We investigated social functioning, physical health status, substance use and psychiatric symptom profile in people with psychotic disorders aged between 50 and 65 years. Methods: Data were collected as part of the Survey of High Impact Psychosis, a population-based survey of Australians aged 18–65 years with a psychotic disorder. We compared those aged 50–65 years ( N = 347) with those aged 18–49 years ( N = 1478) across a range of measures. Results: The older group contained more women and more people with affective psychoses compared to the younger group. They were also more likely to have had a later onset and a chronic course of illness. The older group were more likely to have negative symptoms but less likely to exhibit positive symptoms; they also had lower current cognition, compared to the younger group. Compared to the younger group, the older group were more likely to be divorced/separated, to be living alone and to be unemployed. They had substantially lower lifetime use of alcohol and illicit substances, but rates of obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes mellitus were higher. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the characteristics of people with psychosis change significantly as they progress into the middle age and beyond. A better understanding of these differences is important in informing targeted treatment strategies for older people living with psychosis.

Functional recovery in older adults with schizophrenia: A national interRAI study

“…The older group contained more women, were more likely to have an affective component and more likely to be living alone. The authors concluded that the characteristics of people with psychosis change significantly as they progress into the middle age and beyond and emphasized that a better understanding of these differences is important in informing targeted treatment strategies for older people living with psychosis (Galletly et al, 2022). Symptomatic remission, psychosocial remission and functioning could be achievable goals for a considerable number of patients.…”

Schizophrenia: A Review of Social Risk Factors That Affect Women

“…Using data from the Survey of High Impact Psychosis, an Australian population survey of adults with psychotic disorders, Galletly et al [42] compared social functioning in the age group between 18 and 49 (n = 1478) with that in the 50 to 65 age group (n = 347). The older group, which contained a higher proportion of women, had a smaller social network, attributable perhaps to unemployment (no work colleagues), and high divorce rates.…”