title: Personality disorders in geriatric inpatients in a tertiary hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the prevalence of personality disorders in general medical geriatric admissions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty of 508 general medical geriatric admissions screened at a large tertiary hospital, who were eligible as defined by a Mini-Mental State Examination score of over 23 and capable of informed consent, were assessed by direct interview and discussion with the patient's family or close contact to determine personality traits.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eight (20%) of these patients were found to satisfy DSM-IV criteria for a personality disorder. They were found to have significantly lower global assessments of functioning, impaired overall functioning and lower quality of life compared with non-personality disordered patients. None of their personality disorders had been recognised by their treating teams.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study supports the need for systematic research into the area and the need for increased clinical awareness of the issues.
authors.affiliation: Staff Specialist, Hornsby Specialist Mental Health Services for Older Persons; Clinical Lecturer, Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia neil.jeyasingam@health.nsw.gov.au.
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jeyasingam
authors.affiliation: Professor of Psychiatry, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
authors.forename: Kuruthukulangara S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.affiliation: Professor Ageing and Mental Health, Director, Dementia Collaborative Research Centre and Co-Director, Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Brodaty
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: geriatric; personality disorder; psychiatry