Correlates of anxiety symptoms in physically disabled older women.
OBJECTIVE
The authors describe characteristics that are associated with chronic anxiety symptoms and examine the use of anxiolytic and antidepressant medications in physically disabled women with and without symptoms of anxiety.


METHODS
Participants were 791 physically disabled women age 65+ years who participated in the Women's Health and Aging Study for 2-3 years. Anxiety symptoms were measured with four questions from the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, and women were categorized as having no anxiety, intermittent anxiety, and chronic anxiety symptoms. Health-related characteristics, medications, physical functioning, physical activity, and psychosocial variables were also measured.


RESULTS
Forty-nine percent of women reported no anxiety symptoms; 41% reported intermittent symptoms; and 10% reported chronic symptoms of anxiety. Depressive symptoms and lack of emotional support were significant correlates of intermittent anxiety symptoms, whereas depressive symptoms, negative life events, and lack of emotional support were significant correlates of chronic anxiety symptoms. Over the course of 3 years, 20.3% of women with no anxiety, 33.0% of women with intermittent anxiety, and 48.7% of women with chronic anxiety symptoms took anxiolytic and/or antidepressant medications.


CONCLUSIONS
Anxiety symptoms are common among disabled older women. Psychosocial variables were significantly different in women with intermittent or chronic anxiety symptoms, versus women without anxiety.
Brenes
Gretchen A
GA
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Blvd., Winston-Salem, NC 25157, USA. gbrenes@wfubmc.edu
Guralnik
Jack M
JM
Williamson
Jeff
J
Fried
Linda P
LP
Penninx
Brenda W J H
BW
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010809:Physical Fitness; D011584:Psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D000928:Antidepressive Agents