PSYCHIATRIC-SYMPTOMS IN A TOTAL POPULATION OF VERY ELDERLY - DATA FROM PHYSICIAN EXAMINATIONS AND INFORMANT REPORTS

Knowledge about the epidemiology of psychiatric symptoms and associate d variables in the growing cohort of very elderly is sparse. The aim o f this study was to further explore this issue in a very elderly popul ation using data from physician examinations and informant interviews. Three-hundred-and-thirty persons aged 90 and over were extensively ex amined by physicians, including the administration of a psychiatric in terview. Informants were also interviewed. Of the 330 participants, 25 3 persons had complete data. Of the 253, 114 were suffering from demen tia and 139 were not. Generally the informants reported more psychiatr ic symptoms than what were recorded at the physicians' examinations. T he most commonly reported symptoms included sleep disturbances anxiety and suicidal thoughts. If dementia was present, informants generally reported more psychiatric symptoms than the persons themselves. Howeve r, both suicidal and depressive thoughts were more often registered at the physicians' examinations. No correlations were found between soma tic disorders, social support, demographic variables or disabilities i n daily living and number of psychiatric symptoms according to informa nt or physician data. The prevalence of psychiatric symptoms was gener ally high, especially if dementia was present. The agreement between p hysician and informant data concerning psychiatric symptoms was poor.