Prevalence of mental disorders in elderly people: the European MentDis_ICF65+ study
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Except for dementia and depression, little is known about common mental disorders in elderly people. AIMS: To estimate current, 12-month and lifetime prevalence rates of mental disorders in different European and associated countries using a standardised diagnostic interview adapted to measure the cognitive needs of elderly people. METHOD: The MentDis_ICF65+ study is based on an age-stratified, random sample of 3142 older men and women (65-84 years) living in selected catchment community areas of participating countries. RESULTS: One in two individuals had experienced a mental disorder in their lifetime, one in three within the past year and nearly one in four currently had a mental disorder. The most prevalent disorders were anxiety disorders, followed by affective and substance-related disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with previous studies we found substantially higher prevalence rates for most mental disorders. These findings underscore the need for improving diagnostic assessments adapted to the cognitive capacity of elderly people. There is a need to raise awareness of psychosocial problems in elderly people and to deliver high-quality mental health services to these individuals.
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Anxiety-related mental health problems in older adults are among the most persistent, prevalent and impactful.
“Anxiety-related mental health problems in older adults are among the most persistent, prevalent and impactful (1–3).”
From Is acceptance and commitment therapy helpful in reducing anxiety symptomatology in people aged 65 or over? A systematic review (2022) · cites this paper as [1]
The Main findings and Current prevalence sections report that anxiety disorders were the most prevalent disorder category among the study's adults aged 65–84. The paper does not establish that they were among the most persistent or most impactful problems; its lifetime, past-year and current prevalence estimates do not measure persistence or impact. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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- Authors
- Andreas, S., Schulz, H., Volkert, J., Dehoust, M., Sehner, S., Suling, A., Ausín, B., Canuto, A., Crawford, M., Da Ronch, C., Grassi, L., Hershkovitz, Y., Muñoz, M., Quirk, A., Rotenstein, O., Santos-Olmo, A. B., Shalev, A., Strehle, J., Weber, K., Wegscheider, K., Wittchen, H.-U., & Härter, M.
- Affiliations
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Andreas, Sylke
- ORCID
- Venue
- British Journal of Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Royal College of Psychiatrists
- Published
- 2017-02
- Volume
- 210
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 125-131
- ISSN
- 0007-1250 (ISSN-L)
- 1472-1465
- OpenAlex
- W2512142279
- Cited by
- 425
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 49 · 2024: 44 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 81 · 2019: 52 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 52.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The British Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Institutional Research Information System University of Ferrara (University of Ferrara) (submittedVersion)
- Institutional Research Information System University of Ferrara (University of Ferrara) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- European Commission (223105)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Aging, Health, and Disability
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Keywords
- mental illness, older adults, prevalence, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, substance-related disorders, lifetime prevalence, 12-month prevalence, diagnostic interview, cognitive ability, mental health services
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Mental Disorders, Europe, Female, Humans, Male, Prevalence
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