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Norms and associated factors of the STAI-Y State anxiety inventory in older adults: results from the PAQUID study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2011

Olivier Potvin ,
Valérie Bergua ,
Céline Meillon ,
Mélanie Le Goff ,
Jean Bouisson ,
Jean-François Dartigues  and
Hélène Amieva
Olivier Potvin
Affiliation:
Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada, Centre de recherche de l'Hôpital Charles LeMoyne, Longueuil, Canada, and Centre de recherche Université Laval Robert-Giffard, Québec, Canada.
Valérie Bergua
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de psychologie EA 4139, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France
Céline Meillon
Affiliation:
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM U897), Bordeaux, France
Mélanie Le Goff
Affiliation:
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM U897), Bordeaux, France
Jean Bouisson
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de psychologie EA 4139, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France
Jean-François Dartigues
Affiliation:
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM U897), Bordeaux, France
Hélène Amieva*
Affiliation:
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM U897), Bordeaux, France
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Hélène Amieva, INSERM U897, Université Bordeaux 2, 146 Rue Léo Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux cedex, France. Phone: + 33 5 57 57 15 10. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Background: The latest version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y) is commonly used in older adults, even though this anxiety scale was developed in and for young adults. Norms and associated factors of the STAI-Y are lacking for older adults in the general population. The objectives of the present study were to produce norms on the STAI-Y State scale for older adults using a large sample of older adults selected from a general population and to examine the sociodemographic and health-related factors associated with the STAI-Y State score.

Methods: 993 community-dwelling individuals aged 66 years and over from the PAQUID study were evaluated at home by a psychologist for the following variables: age, education, marital status, proximity of relatives, self-assessment of income sufficiency, occupation during active life, depressive symptomatology, objective and subjective health, objective and subjective cognitive functioning, adverse life events, activities of daily living, drug use, and cigarette consumption.

Results: Norms were stratified for age, sex, and education and were produced separately for older adults with and without depressive symptomatology. Multivariate analyses revealed that younger age (66–79 years), female sex, lower education, perception of income insufficiency, depressive symptomatology, poor subjective health, subjective cognitive complaints, psychotropic drugs use, and recent adverse life events were independently associated with higher STAI-Y State score.

Conclusions: This study provides norms for the STAI-Y State anxiety inventory in a general population of older adults and indicates the specific factors linked with state anxiety. Such factors should be taken into account by clinicians in order to better understand state anxiety in older adults.

Keywords

anxietyolder adultsstate anxietyhealth
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 23 , Issue 6 , August 2011 , pp. 869 - 879
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2011

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