Ayaktan Tedavi Gören Yaşlı Hastalarda Psikiyatrik Bozukluk Dağılımının Değerlendirilmesi: Zor Bir Hasta Grubu

Abstract

Objective: The elderly population is progressively enhancing, and this increase is expected to be more evident in the near future. As the elderly population grows, there will be an increasing need for health services, following in rapidly rising medical, psychiatric, and social healthcare issues. The aim of the current investigation is to define the prevalence of the psychiatric disorder, including gender-based differences, demographic characteristics, and dispersion within all elderly age groups, among patients applying the general psychiatry outpatient clinic.Material and Methods: This is a prospective study for the elderly (≥65 years) patients who applied the general psychiatry outpatient clinic of our university hospital between April 2018 and July 2018. Axis I diagnose was made according to DSM-5 criteria. Patients’ demographic characteristics were recorded.Results: The number of patients who visited the general psychiatry outpatient clinic was 1950, and the geropsychiatric patients (≥65 years) constituted 10.4% (n=203) of the total patients. The female/male ratio was 1.44 (n=120/83). The most common psychiatric disorder was major depressive disorder (38.40%). Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD, 18.70%), adjustment disorder (AD, 9.30%), schizophrenia (7.30%) followed as the most common disorders in the geropsychiatric patient group. GAD was statistically significantly higher in females (X2=6.83, p=0.008) and the AD was statistically significantly higher in males (X2=10.38, p=0.002). Conclusion: Determining the frequency of psychiatric disorders in elderly patients and addressing the differences between genders is important for developing treatment strategies.