title: Anxiety symptoms in 74+ community-dwelling elderly: associations with physical morbidity, depression and alcohol consumption.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Anxiety among community-dwelling older adults has not been studied sufficiently. The aims of this cross-sectional population-based study were to estimate the point prevalence of clinically relevant anxiety symptoms and to describe their socio-demographic and clinical features, with particular focus on the association with somatic illnesses.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three-hundred-sixty-six non-demented older adults (mean age 83.7±6.2, range 74-99 years) from the Faenza Project (Northern Italy) were assessed using the Cambridge Mental Disorders of the Elderly Examination-Revised (CAMDEX-R) and the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory short form (GAI-sf). Multi-adjusted regression analyses were used to estimate Odds Ratio (OR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (95% CI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Clinically relevant anxiety symptoms occurred in one out of five participants (point prevalence 21.0%) and were significantly associated with depression (OR 5.6 per rank; 95% CI: 3.1-10.1), physical morbidity (OR 3.5 per illness; 95% CI: 1.0-11.9) and female gender (OR 2.8; 95% CI: 1.4-5.5). Further, there were significant associations with a consumption of alcohol exceeding 1 alcoholic unit/day.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Anxiety symptoms are very common in older subjects, especially when medically ill. Depression and alcohol consumption often co-occur with late-life anxiety symptoms, thus requiring special attention in daily clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences - Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Forlani
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences - Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morri
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Division of Psychiatry, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Martino
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belvederi Murri
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences - Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bernabei
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences - Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moretti
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences - Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Attili
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences - Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Biondini
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences - Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Ronchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences - Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna Rita
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Atti
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors