Unrecognized psychiatric illness in elderly medical-surgical patients.
Research diagnostic criteria were used in a structured interview to evaluate the presence of unrecognized psychiatric illness in 50 acute medical and surgical patients over the age of 65 at the La Jolla Veterans Administration Hospital; 24% of the subjects had unrecognized major mental disorders -- predominantly depression or alcoholism. The geriatric patients most likely to have unrecognized illness were older, widowed or divorced, had past jail and/or psychiatric hospital experiences, and gave histories of vascular disorders. The results are consistent with past literature on the elderly.
D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D003704:Dementia / Q000175:diagnosis; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005853:Geriatrics; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008388:Marital Therapy; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative