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Prevalence of mental illness in an elderly community dwelling population using AGECAT

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Brian A Lawlor ,
Alicja Radic ,
Irene Bruce ,
Gregory RJ Swanwick ,
Fergus O' Kelly ,
Michael O'Doherty ,
J Bernard Walsh  and
Davis Coakley
Brian A Lawlor
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, St James's Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland
Alicja Radic
Affiliation:
Health Research Board, 16 Herbert St, Dublin 2, Ireland
Irene Bruce
Affiliation:
Mercer's Institute for Research on Ageing, St James's Hospital
Gregory RJ Swanwick
Affiliation:
Mercer's Institute for Research on Ageing, St James's Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland
Michael O'Doherty
Affiliation:
SCR, Dublin 8, Ireland
J Bernard Walsh
Affiliation:
St James's Hospital
Davis Coakley
Affiliation:
Mercer's Institute for Research on Ageing, St James's Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland
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Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of a range of mental disorders in an elderly community dwelling population in Dublin using AGECAT, a reliable and standardised computerised diagnostic system that has been previously validated in community epidemiological surveys.

Methods: A total of 451 individuals over the age of 65 in a GP group practice were interviewed using AGECAT.

Results: Approximately one in five subjects had a mental illness according to AGECAT criteria. The prevalence of depression was 13.1% and did not change appreciably with age. 5.5% of subjects met organic ‘case’ criteria, and the frequency of organic cases increased with age, approximating 15% in the over 80 year age group. Neurotic disorders occurred with very low frequency, representing 1.1% of the subjects tested.

Conclusions: These findings have implications for mentalhealth services planning at a local level, and underscore the utility of AGECAT as a tool for comparative crosscultural epidemiological surveys.

Keywords

PrevalenceElderlyMental illnessAGECATCommunity
Type
Original Papers
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , December 1994 , pp. 157 - 159
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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