Citation

Lilford P, Hughes JC. BJPsych Adv. 2020; 26(2): 92-103.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Royal College of Psychiatrists)

DOI

10.1192/bja.2019.56

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This is an overview of epidemiology relevant to mental health problems in old age. We start by reviewing some basic terminology: the definitions of prevalence and incidence; the difference between descriptive and analytical epidemiology; the differences between study designs, including cross-sectional, case-control and cohort studies. We then cover the main epidemiological features of the major psychiatric diseases that affect older people (dementia and its different types, depression, late-onset schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, delirium, anxiety-related disorders, eating disorders, alcohol and substance misuse, personality disorders) and suicide. We end with some descriptive statistics regarding quality of life in older people. Copyright © 2020 The Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Language: en

Keywords

human; suicide; systematic review; epidemiology; aged; dementia; quality of life; bipolar disorder; depression; prevalence; lifestyle; schizophrenia; mortality; Dementia; comorbidity; risk factor; eating disorder; mental disease; dying; personality disorder; behavior disorder; social psychology; Alzheimer disease; meta analysis; delirium; DSM-IV; multiinfarct dementia; Article; biological marker; Lewy body; hearing impairment; very elderly; DSM-III; functional disorders; old age psychiatry