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The Natural History of Mental Disorder in Old Age

A Long-Term Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

John R. Robinson
John R. Robinson*
Affiliation:
Littlemore Hospital, Oxford OX4 4XN
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Abstract

In a prospective study, 153 consecutive new referrals to a psychogeriatrician in Oxfordshire in 1973 were followed up for 15 years. The percentage of the over-65 population at risk was 0.27 and, of those aged over 80, 0.6. Alzheimer's dementia and depressive illness comprised over two-thirds of referrals. A quarter became permanent admissions, half of them with Alzheimer's dementia, 19% of whom were alive five years later. Depressive illness, at ten years, had a mortality 1.2–1.6 times that of the population at risk. The distinction between Alzheimer's dementia and depressive illness, based on their natural history and causes of death, was reinforced.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 154 , Issue 6 , June 1989 , pp. 783 - 789
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1989 

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