High prevalence of anxiety symptoms in hospitalized geriatric patients.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the prevalence of anxiety symptoms in hospitalized geriatric patients.


METHODS
Controlled cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Ninety-eight geriatric in-patients and 68 healthy home-dwelling controls of similar age recruited from senior citizen centres.


METHODS
Anxiety measured as a current emotional state by Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).


RESULTS
The geriatric patients scored significantly higher than the controls. Applying Spielberger's recommended cut-off of 39/40 on the STAI sumscore, 41% of the female and 47% of the male geriatric patients might be suspected of suffering from significant anxiety symptoms. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease tended to score higher; otherwise no relationship was found between the STAI sumscore and type of chronic somatic disease, nor between the STAI sumscore and number of drugs in regular use.


CONCLUSIONS
STAI proved feasible for use in the elderly. The scoring on the STAI is high in geriatric in-patients. Further studies are needed to clarify to what extent this relates to a high prevalence of anxiety disorders.
Kvaal
K
K
University of Oslo, Research Group in Geriatrics of the Norwegian National Health Association, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Ullevaal University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. kari.kvaal@ioks.uio.no
Macijauskiene
J
J
Engedal
K
K
Laake
K
K
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results