FACTORS DETERMINING THE LEVEL OF ANXIETY STATE IN GERIATRIC PRIMARY-CARE PATIENTS IN A COMMUNITY-DWELLING

The authors examined the association between anxiety state and various sociodemographic factors, as well as measures of general health, mood , and stress in a community-dwelling, geriatric population. A survey q uestionnaire designed for the study was completed by 123 randomly sele cted subjects. Univariable linear regression analysis showed anxiety s tate to have an inverse association with age (beta = -0.29, P = 0.0001 ) and general health measures (P = 0.0001), and to have a direct relat ionship with depression (beta=0.78, P = 0.0001), life stress events (b eta = 0.98, P = 0.01), and medical comorbidity (beta=1.04, P = 0.01). Gender differences in anxiety state were not found. The results provid e a framework to begin understanding those factors that contribute to anxiety states in late life. This study revealed anxiety and depressio n to be highly correlated even in elderly subjects who reported low le vels of anxiety and depressive symptoms.