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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Mental health screening of older adults in primary care | | Author(s) | Mary J Davis, Jennifer Moye, Michele J Karel |
| Journal title | Journal of Mental Health and Aging, vol 8 no 2, Summer 2002 |
| Pages | pp 139-150 |
| Keywords | Cognitive processes ; Evaluation ; General practice ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | In an effort to document mental health outreach in their primary care clinic, the authors screened 316 older people (mean age 72) not currently receiving psychiatric treatment for multiple mental health symptoms. 18% reported depressed mood, 26% insomnia, and 6.9% morbid or suicidal ideation for at least several days in the previous 2 weeks. Of the 43% who had reported a loss during the past year, 36% remained affected by the loss. Also reported were anxiety symptoms (29%) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (14%). Two-fifths of the patients reported drinking alcohol in the previous week, 18% more than 5 days, and 13% more than 3 drinks per sitting. 26% of patients reported symptoms warranting intervention; of these, only 39% accepted a treatment referral. While screening for depressed mood and alcohol use is now common in primary care, the authors found it useful to screen for specific symptoms of depression (including insomnia and suicidal ideation), persisting grief reactions, anxiety, and PTSD in this setting. Further research is necessary to determine factors that underlie patients' refusal to accept mental health treatment. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-020924225 A |
| Classmark | DA: 4C: L5: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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