Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T05:24:54.919Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Anxiety symptoms in Korean elderly individuals: a two-year longitudinal community study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2015

Hee-Ju Kang ,
Kyung-Yeol Bae ,
Sung-Wan Kim ,
Il-Seon Shin ,
Jin-Sang Yoon  and
Jae-Min Kim
Hee-Ju Kang
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, South Korea
Kyung-Yeol Bae
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, South Korea
Sung-Wan Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, South Korea
Il-Seon Shin
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, South Korea
Jin-Sang Yoon
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, South Korea
Jae-Min Kim*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, South Korea
*
Corresponding should be addressed to: Prof. Jae-Min Kim, Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, 160 Baekseoro, Dong-Ku, Gwangju, 501-746, South Korea. Phone: +82-62-220-6143; Fax: +82-62-220-2351. Email: jmkim@chonnam.ac.kr.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Although late-life anxiety occurs frequently and is associated with higher morbidity, few longitudinal studies have been concerned with the evaluation thereof. We investigated the prevalence, incidence, and persistence of anxiety and related factors over a two-year period in community-dwelling Korean elderly individuals.

Methods:

A total of 1,204 Korean elderly individuals were evaluated at baseline, and 909 were followed up two years later. The community version of the Geriatric Mental State Schedule was used to estimate anxiety at both baseline and follow-up interviews. We defined “prevalence” as the rate of anxiety symptoms (for both anxiety cases and sub-threshold anxiety) at baseline; “incidence” as the rate of anxiety symptoms at follow-up in those without baseline anxiety symptoms; and “persistence” as the rate of anxiety symptoms at follow-up in those with baseline anxiety symptoms. Associations between various covariates and anxiety status were examined using multivariate logistic regression models.

Results:

The prevalence, incidence, and persistence of anxiety symptoms were 38.1%, 29.3%, and 41.1%, respectively. Prevalent anxiety symptoms were associated independently with female, rented housing, more stressful life event and medical illness, physical inactivity, depression, insomnia, and lower cognitive function. Incident anxiety symptoms were predicted by older age, female gender, depression, and insomnia; persistent anxiety symptoms were predicted by older age, more medical illness, and baseline depression.

Conclusions:

Since depression was associated with prevalent, incident, and persistent anxiety symptoms, effective detection and management thereof is important in older adults to reduce anxiety. Furthermore, preventive collaborative care should be considered, particularly for older, female, insomniac patients.

Keywords

Key words: anxietydepressioninsomniaagedlongitudinal study
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , March 2016 , pp. 423 - 433
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andreescu, C. et al. (2007). Effect of comorbid anxiety on treatment response and relapse risk in late-life depression: controlled study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 190, 344–349. doi:10.1192 /bjp.bp.106.027169.Google Scholar
Blay, S. L. and Marinho, V. (2012). Anxiety disorders in old age. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 25, 462–467. doi:10.1097 /YCO.0b012e3283578cdd.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bryant, C., Jackson, H. and Ames, D. (2008). The prevalence of anxiety in older adults: methodological issues and a review of the literature. Journal of Affective Disorders, 109, 233–250. doi:10.1016 /j.jad.2007.11.008.Google Scholar
Byers, A. L., Arean, P. A. and Yaffe, K. (2012). Low use of mental health services among older Americans with mood and anxiety disorders. Psychiatric Services, 63, 66–72. doi:10.1176 /appi,ps.201100121.Google Scholar
Carrière, I. et al. (2013). Anxiety and mortality risk in community-dwelling elderly people. British Journal of Psychiatry, 203, 303–309. doi:10.1192 /bjp.bp.112.124685.Google Scholar
Cho, M. J. et al. (2007). Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-IV psychiatric disorder among Korean adults. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 195, 203–210. doi:10.1097 /01.nmd.0000243826.40732.45.Google Scholar
Chou, K. L., Mackenzie, C. S., Liang, K. and Sareen, J. (2011). Three-year incidence and predictors of first-onset DSM-IV mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders in older adults: results from Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 72, 144–155. doi:10.4088 /JCP.09m05618gry.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Copeland, J. R. M., Dewey, M. E. and Griffiths-Jones, H. M. (1986). A computerized psychiatric diagnostic system and case nomenclature for elderly subjects: GMS and AGECAT. Psychological Medicine, 16, 89–99.Google Scholar
de Beurs, E., Beekman, A. T., Deeg, D. J., Van Dyck, R. and van Tilburg, W. (2000). Predictors of change in anxiety symptoms of older persons: results from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Psychological Medicine, 30, 515–527. doi:10.1017 /S0033291799001956.Google Scholar
Demyttenaere, K. et al. (2004). Prevalence, severity, and unmet need for treatment of mental disorders in the World Health Organization world mental health surveys. JAMA, 291, 2581–2590. doi:10.001 /jama.291.21.2581.Google Scholar
Folstein, M. F., Fostein, S. E. and McHugh, P. R. (1975). “Mini-Mental State”: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198. doi:10.1016 /0022-3956(75)90026-6.Google Scholar
Forlani, M. et al. (2014). Anxiety symptoms in 74+ community dwelling elderly: associations with physical morbidity, depression and alcohol consumption. PloS One, 9, e89859. doi:10.1371 /journal.pone.0089859.eCollection 2014.Google Scholar
Kim, J.-M., Stewart, R., Kim, S.-W., Yang, S.-J., Shin, I.-S. and Yoon, J.-S. (2009). Insomnia, depression, and physical disorders in late life: a 2-year longitudinal community study in Koreans. Sleep, 32, 1221–1228.Google Scholar
Kim, J. M. et al. (2013). Physical health and incident late life depression: modification by cytokine genes. Neurobiology of Aging, 34, 356. e1–e9. doi:10.1016 /j.neurobiolaging.2012.01.111.Google Scholar
Leggett, A., Zarit, S. H., Nguyen, N. H., Hoang, C. N. and Nquyen, H. T. (2012). The influence of social factors and health on depressive symptoms and worry: a study of older Vietnamese adults. Aging & Mental Health, 16, 780–786. doi:10.1080 /1360/7863.2012.667780.Google Scholar
Lindesay, J. (1990). The Guy's/Age Concern Survey: physical health and psychiatric disorder in an urban elderly community. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 5, 171–178.Google Scholar
Liu, X. and Liu, L. (2005). Sleep habits and insomnia in a sample of elderly persons in China. Sleep, 28, 1579–1587.Google Scholar
Mehta, K. M. et al. (2007). Anxiety symptoms and decline in physical function over 5 years in the health, aging and body composition study. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 55, 265–270. doi:10.1111 /j.1532-5415.2007.01041.x.Google Scholar
National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (1995). The Physicians’ Guide to Helping Patients with Alcohol Problems, NIH publication Number 95-3769. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health.Google Scholar
Neckelmann, D., Mykletun, A. and Dahl, A. A. (2007). Chronic insomnia as a risk factor for developing anxiety and depression. Sleep, 30, 873–880.Google Scholar
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2013). Pension at a Glance 2013: OECD and G20 Indicator. Paris Cedex 16, France: OECD. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/pension_glance-2013-en; last accessed 22 May 2015.Google Scholar
Prina, A. M., Ferri, C. P., Guerra, M, Bryane, C. and Prince, M. (2011). Prevalence of anxiety and its correlates among older adults in Latin America, India and China: cross-cultural study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 199, 485–491. doi:10.1192 /bjp.bp.110.083915.Google Scholar
Prince, M. J., Harwood, R. H., Blizard, R. A., Thomas, A. and Mann, A. H. (1997). Social support deficits, loneliness and life events as risk factors for depression in old age. The Gospel Oak Project VI. Psychological Medicine, 27, 323–332. doi:10.1017 /S0033291796004485.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schulz, R., Heckhausen, J. and O’Brien, A. (2000). Negative affect and the disablement process in late life: a life-span control theory approach. In Manuck, S. B., Jennings, R. (eds.), Behavior, Health and Aging (pp. 119–133). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erbaum.Google Scholar
Schuurmans, J. et al. (2005). The outcome of anxiety disorders in older people at 6-year follow-up: results from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 111, 420–428.Google Scholar
Smit, F., Comijs, H., Schoevers, R., Cuijpers, P., Deeg, D. and Beekman, A. (2007). Target groups for the prevention of late life anxiety. British Journal of Psychiatry, 190, 428–434. doi:10.1192 /bjp.bp.106.023127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Zelst, W. H., de Beurs, E., Beekman, A. T., Deeg, D. J. and van Dyck, R. (2003). Prevalence and risk factors of posttraumatic stress disorder in older adults. Psychotherpy and Psychosomatics, 72, 333–342. doi:10.1159 /000073030.Google Scholar
Vink, D., Aartsen, M. J. and Schoevers, R. A. (2008). Risk factors for anxiety and depression in the elderly: a review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 106, 29–44. doi:10.1016 /j.jad.2007.06.005.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wetherell, J. L., Le Roux, H. and Gatz, M. (2003). DSM-IV criteria for generalized anxiety disorder in older adults: distinguishing the worried from the well. Psychology and Aging, 18, 622–627. doi:10.1037 /0882-7974.18.3.622.Google Scholar
World Health Organization. (2001). The World Health Report 2001 – Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO.Google Scholar