title: [Prevalence and factors associated to mental disorders in primary care attenders aged 75 and older].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mental disorders in old age are a major public health problem. However, few epidemiological studies provide data on prevalence and risk factors of mental illness in older old population. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of common mental disorders and their associated factors in primary care patients over 75 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional epidemiologic study carried out in a sample of 426 older old patients who were attended at Primary Health Care settings, proportionally distributed for provinces and health centers. The Spanish version of the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) was used in order to diagnose the most common psychiatric disorders in this field.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prevalence and comorbidity rates of affective, anxiety and somatoform disorders are high. 47.4% of the sample presented one or more psychiatric disorder. The most prevalent were affective (33.8%), somatoform (24.4%) and anxiety (14.3%) disorders. 6.3% had comorbidity between affective, anxiety and somatoform disorders. Perceived health status and physical illnesses were significantly associated with these mental disorders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Affective, anxiety and somatoform disorders are highly prevalent in older old population with high rates of comorbidity. Their detection and treatment should be considered a relevant issue in primary care.
authors.affiliation: Institut Universitari d'Investigació en Ciencies de la Salut (IUNICS), Palma de Mallorca, España. vivesmarga@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Margalida
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vives
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: García-Toro
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Armengol
authors.forename: Maria C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.forename: Jose R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: Margalida
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gili
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012307:Risk Factors