Mental health in the middle-aged population

Abstract

In the general health screening carried out Sept. 9, 1973 to Jan. 11, 1974 in the municipality of Sakyla in southwest Finland as part of the Sakyla Koylio project, the current self-perceived psychological symptomatology of the population between the ages of 40-64 yr (a total of 2431 persons) was measured by the questionnaire developed by Goldberg. With a participation rate of 93.3%, 21% of those who took part suffered from psychological symptoms. In the subjects, 50 yr old or over, these symptoms were nearly twice as common as in those under 50 yr. Mental symptoms occurred most frequently in widowed and divorced persons and in pensioners and the unemployed. An increase in income and/or education appeared to be related to a decline in psychosymptomatology. In the municipality of Koylio, with a less developed social organization, the frequency of psychological symptoms was 1.5 times that obtained for the more highly developed Sakyla.