Psychiatric referrals of elderly patients in a general hospital.
In a study of 60 elderly patients in a general hospital referred for psychiatric assessment, the commonest psychiatric disorders were depressive illness (41.6%) and dementia (35.0%). Patients with depression (mean age 69.5 years) were a younger age group compared with dementia (mean age 75.8 years)--this difference is statistically significant (p less than 0.01). Seven patients with depression were admitted for attempted suicide and 5 were referred because of headache and chest discomfort. The main reasons for referral of patients with dementia were disturbed and confused behaviour. The other psychiatric disorders in the sample were delirium (6.7%), paraphrenia (6.7%), alcohol dependence syndrome (5.0%) and anxiety neurosis (5.0%).
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012846:Singapore