PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDERS AMONG ELDERLY KOREANS IN THE UNITED-STATES

This study examines the lifetime prevalence of various psychiatric dis orders among 100 Korean elderly in Los Angeles. The instrument used in this study is the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, Version III (DIS III , 1-10). The main finding is of relatively low prevalence of most DSM- III disorders with the exception of alcohol abuse and dependence. The rate of alcoholism is astonishingly high among elderly Korean males in Los Angeles. The findings are compared with the U.S. Epidemiological Catchment Area studies, and with other much larger community studies c onducted in Korea. A comparison shows that there are no significant di fferences in the prevalence of mental disorders between elderly Korean s in Los Angeles and elderly Americans in St. Louis (N = 576) except f or the prevalence of alcohol abuse and dependence. The lifetime preval ence of DSM-III disorders among Koreans in Korea (N = 5100) is general ly higher than among elderly Koreans in Los Angeles.