The Association Between Types of Chronic Diseases and Anxiety or Worry in Older Adults

Abstract

Among several psychological problems, anxiety has been particularly accepted as a commonly seen disorder among older adults by several epidemiological studies around the world. Nevertheless, even though anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental disorders among older individuals, there has not been much attention on some critical aging-related issues. Our research uncovers connections between many medical conditions and anxiety symptoms. The innovative aspect of our study is the evaluation of the use of extensive and validated measures for geriatric anxiety, trait anxiety, and worry, as well as associations between the number of diseases and types of diseases with those measures in a sample of older Turkish individuals living in their homes. The study is conducted with older adults (N = 246) living in their homes. The Geriatric Anxiety Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory—Trait Form (STAI—T), and the Brief Version Penn State Worry Questionnaire (B-PSWQ) have been applied to them with their self-report of types of physical diseases. Results revealed that older adults with two or more diseases reported higher geriatric anxiety and worry than older adults with one disease or no disease. Regarding the types of diseases, older adults suffering from diseases of the digestive system, rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, neurological disorders, and urinary system diseases have higher geriatric anxiety, trait anxiety, and worry scores than the ones who have not. Considering the results of the present study, a combination of medical treatment and psychotherapy is essential.