Profile of psychiatric disorders and life events in medically ill elderly: experiences from geriatric clinic in Northern India

Abstract

Mental disorders are common among medically ill elderly patients, but they are poorly recognized and treated. Assessment of the psychiatric morbidity will help in strengthening psycho-geriatric services and thus, improve the quality of life of the elderly.

Proportion of Depression Among the Elderly Population in A Rural Health Care Setting

“…The prevalence and pattern of co-morbidities among elderly depressed patients who attended primary care in our study were similar to those which were seen various other studies [6][7][8], with hypertension and diabetes being the most common co-morbidities. The presence of co-morbidities may lead to disabilities which further the depression.…”

“…In the present study, elderly patients were more likely to suffer from depression as compared to the middle aged. This difference was statistically significant; this was similar to findings of other studies which were done among geriatric patients in psychiatry healthcare and old age homes [6][7][8]. However, some studies [9] found that a majority of the patients with psychiatric morbidity were in the age group of 16-45 years and that most were suffering from severe mental illness; of which bipolar affective disorder (45%) and schizophrenia (35.9%) were the two most common ones.…”

Proportion and Factors Associated with Depressive Symptoms among Elderly in an Urban Slum in Bangalore

“…This finding was consistent with previous studies. 13,29,31,32 Recent stressful life events should be identified and suitable support, self-help groups, and counseling need to be in place in the community.…”

Geriatric Psychiatry in India: Developments and Future Directions

“…The clinic-based studies have reported neurotic disorders in 5-19.8 % of elderly, a significant proportion of which are likely to be anxiety disorders (Prasad et al 1996;Singh et al 2004;Prakash et al 2007). Not much original research from India is available on other aspects of anxiety disorders in the elderly.…”

“…Several epidemiological studies have been conducted in community (Table 1) (Ramachandran et al 1979;Seby et al 2011) as well as in hospital settings (Prasad et al 1996;Prakash et al 2007). The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among elderly (≥60 years) residing in community has ranged between 8.5 and 42.2 %.…”