Psychiatric disorders among elderly patients attending a geriatric medical day hospital: Prevalence according to clinical diagnosis (DSM‐III‐R) and agecat

Abstract

One hundred and fourteen elderly medically ill day patients were interviewed in order to assess the prevalance of DSM‐III‐R main psychiatric disorders. Dementia affected 14.0% of the subjects, major depression 20.3%, dysthymic disorder 4.4%, atypical depression 13.2%, other disorders 3.6%. Overall, 60.5% of the patients had a psychiatric disorder. The computerized case designation (AGECAT) showed an acceptable concordance with clinical diagnoses (kappa value for dementia 0.59, for depression 0.58). Some issues related to the high prevalence of major depression are discussed.