title: Late-life onset of psychotic symptoms.
abstract: The authors retrospectively evaluated the etiology and clinical findings of patients with first manifestations of psychotic symptoms after the age of 65. Nearly 10% of over 1,700 consecutive geriatric patients admitted to an acute inpatient psychogeriatric unit had late-life onset psychotic symptoms. About three-fourths of these were women, usually in their seventies. Dementia of the Alzheimer's type was the most common cause of psychosis arising in late life, followed by major depression, medical/toxic causes, delirium, bipolar disorder, delusional disorder, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder. Clinical manifestations consisted mostly of delusions and hallucinations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, St. Louis University School of Medicine, MO 63104, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.forename: G T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Grossberg
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001526:Behavioral Symptoms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008923:Missouri / Q000453:epidemiology; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000150:complications; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies