Medical comorbidity in psychogeriatric patients

Abstract

To undertake a systematic review of articles published in the years 2008-2010 related to medical comorbidities in psychogeriatric patients. This paper addresses selected research findings on the prevalence and causes of medical comorbidity in elderly patients with psychiatric illnesses. MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsychINFO databases were used to identify potential studies. Specific medical comorbidities which were studied included osteoporosis and diabetes. Several studies investigated general medical comorbidities. Elderly patients with psychiatric illness generally had the presence of at least one medical comorbidity compared with elderly patients without a psychiatric illness. Depression in elderly patients was the most commonly studied psychiatric illness. Elderly patients with psychiatric illness commonly have comorbid medical conditions. The presence, appropriate investigations and management of these are often suboptimal and can affect quality of life and increase mortality.