THE PREVALENCE OF ANXIETY DISORDERS IN NURSING-HOMES

Residents in five nursing homes in central Sydney were asked to take p art in a study of depression and anxiety. One hundred and seven subjec ts who scored 18 or more on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) w ere interviewed using an anxiety questionnaire devised by Lindesay et al. (1989) as well as the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Lindesay e t al. found that 3.7% of elderly people in the community had generaliz ed anxiety. Based on scores obtained on the anxiety questionnaire, 12 of the 107 (11.2%) were considered to have generalized anxiety. When s ubsequently these 12 were seen by a psychiatrist, the following DSM-II I-R diagnoses were made: generalized anxiety disorder (3), panic disor der plus anxiety (one), mood disorder (three), schizophrenia (one), pe rsonality disorder (one) and no psychiatric disorder-realistic worries (3). As in previous studies, a strong association was shown between a nxiety and depression; seven of the 12 (58%) were rated on the GDS as definitely depressed, compared with only 24% of the non-anxious. More of them were taking antidepressants. Phobic disorders were common (14% of subjects) but without causing persistent distress in most cases. O nly two subjects had panic disorder.