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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| The spectrum of worry in the community-dwelling elderly | | Author(s) | Jeannette Golden, Ronan M Conroy, Irene Bruce |
| Journal title | Aging & Mental Health, vol 15, no 8, November 2011 |
| Pages | pp 985-994 |
| Source | http://www.tandfonline.com |
| Keywords | Anxiety ; Depression ; Quality of life ; Social surveys. |
| Annotation | The study looked at the prevalence and distribution of worry, its content, and its associations with quality of life and depression, based on a community sample of 2,136 people aged between 65 and 96. The GMS-AGECAT structured psychiatric interview was used to rate symptoms which were classified into five levels of severity of worry ranging from simple, non-excessive to generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). In the study, 79% of the participants reported worrying, 37% reported worrying excessively, while 20% reported excessive, uncontrollable worry. Overall, 6.3% met criteria for GAD. Prevalence of all types of worry declined with age and was lower in men. The prevalence of depressed mood was similar in those without worry and those with non-severe worry but rose significantly with each level of severe worry. Major depression was absent in those who did not worry, and had a prevalence of only 0.2% in those with non-severe worry. It had a significantly elevated prevalence at all levels of excessive worry, and a significantly higher prevalence in those with GAD. All levels of excessive worry were associated with reduced quality of life. In conclusion, severe worry is highly prevalent in the elderly. Although most severe worriers do not meet criteria for GAD they do have a reduced quality of life and an increased prevalence of depression. (JL). |
| Accession Number | CPA-111214012 A |
| Classmark | ENP: ENR: F:59: 3F |
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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