title: Generalized anxiety in community-dwelling elderly: Prevalence and clinical characteristics.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a chronic and disabling disorder with a low rate of full remission. As it is commonly assumed that cases in the elderly principally represent the continuing chronic course of early onset illness, there has been little research into the clinical characteristics, including comorbid psychiatric and physical conditions, which may be specific to older people.
  
  
  METHODS
  Lifetime GAD and psychiatric comorbidity were diagnosed in 1974 community-dwelling elderly people aged 65 or over using a standardized psychiatric examination, the MINI, based on DSM-IV criteria. Multivariate regression analyses were adjusted for socio-demographic, lifestyle, biological, and clinical variables, as well as adverse life events.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The lifetime prevalence of GAD was 11% (95% CI=9.6-12.4%) of whom 24.6% reported a late onset with a first episode after 50 years of age. The 6-month current prevalence was 4.6% (95% CI=3.7-5.5%). Most of the prevalent cases were recurrent but only 36.3% were receiving treatment. Fourteen percent were comorbid with major depression and 34% with phobia but their associated factors differed. The factors associated with pure GAD were being female, having cognitive impairment, lower body mass index, reporting low affective support during childhood, taking a high number of somatic medications independently of other mental health factors, e.g. psychotropic medication use, major depression, and phobia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study is limited by cross-sectional design.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data indicate that GAD prevalence is high in elderly people with a late-life onset of GAD in 25% of cases. GAD in the elderly is not just a severity marker of depression and is clinically distinct from phobia, the other major anxiety disorder of the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Inserm, U1061, Montpellier F-34093, France; Univ Montpellier 1, U1061, Montpellier, France; Tianjin Mental Health Center, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Xiaobin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Inserm, U1061, Montpellier F-34093, France; Univ Montpellier 1, U1061, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Norton
authors.affiliation: Inserm, U1061, Montpellier F-34093, France; Univ Montpellier 1, U1061, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Carrière
authors.affiliation: Inserm, U1061, Montpellier F-34093, France; Univ Montpellier 1, U1061, Montpellier, France; Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, UK.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ritchie
authors.affiliation: Inserm, U1061, Montpellier F-34093, France; Univ Montpellier 1, U1061, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chaudieu
authors.affiliation: Inserm, U1061, Montpellier F-34093, France; Univ Montpellier 1, U1061, Montpellier, France. Electronic address: marie-laure.ancelin@inserm.fr.
authors.forename: Marie-Laure
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ancelin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057187:Independent Living; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012074:Remission Induction; D012307:Risk Factors; D040701:Stress Disorders, Traumatic, Acute / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Anxiety disorder; Comorbidity; Elderly; Late onset; Phobia