2 - The Epidemiology of Selected Mental Disorders in Later Life

Abstract

This chapter discusses the epidemiology of selected mental disorders in later life, that is, after the age of 60 or 65 years. The chapter focuses on two distinct topics for epidemiologic research: (1) the estimation of age-related prevalence and risk for a selection of specific mental disorders and (2) an overview of the evidence on risk factors for these mental disorders in later life, as observed by means of epidemiologic research. The chapter focuses on the underlying substantive theory associated with the null hypothesis in the risk-factor studies of mental disorders in later life. Reports on these studies have stressed an alternative hypothesis without drawing attention to the substantive implications of the null. In so doing, an impression may be left that the null is substantively empty and that all is random and what has been observed can be explained by chance alone Delirium, intoxication, and related acute confusional states, the schizophrenias, and the personality disorders of later life generally have been neglected in recent epidemiologic studies. The chapter, with a focus on recent research, represents this neglect.