Assessment of anxiety in older adults: Current status

In 1994 there were 33.2 million older adults (65 years of age and older) in the United States, and approximately one quarter of these older adults mee t diagnostic criteria for some mental disorder. Anxiety is among the most p revalent psychiatric disorder in older adults. However, insufficient resear ch has been conducted on the assessment of anxiety in older adults. The pur pose of this article was to provide an overview of issues to consider in as sessing anxiety in older adults. First, a discussion of factors that may in fluence current prevalence and incidence figures is provided. Second, age-r elated differences in factors that can influence the experience and present ation of anxiety symptoms are considered. Third, age-related factors that c an influence the assessment process or outcome are presented. Fourth, a dis cussion on the important role of multimethod assessment and the psychometri c adequacy of available anxiety assessment instruments is presented. Finall y, recommendations for clinical assessment and future research are provided . (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.