Anxiety disorders in later life: A report from the longitudinal agingstudy Amsterdam
A.T.F. Beekman
Bok Engelsk 1998
| Utgitt | 1998
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| Omfang | Side 717- 726
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| Opplysninger | Objective. To study the prevalence and risk factors of anxietydisorders in the older (55-85) population of The Netherlands.Method. The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) is based on arandom sample of 3107 older adults, stratified for age and sex, whichwas drawn from the community registries of 11 municipalities in threeregions in The Netherlands. Anxiety disorders were diagnosed usingthe Diagnostic Interview Schedule in a two-stage screening design.The risk factors under study comprise vulnerability, stress andnetwork-related variables. Both bivariate and multivariatestatistical methods were used to evaluate the risk factors.Results. The overall prevalence of anxiety disorders was estimated at10.2%. Generalized anxiety disorder was the most common disorder(7.3%), followed by phobic disorders (3.1%). Both panic disorder(1.0%) and obsessive compulsive disorder (0.6%) were rare. Thesefigures are roughly similar to previous findings, Ageing itself didnot have any impact on the prevalence in both bivariate andmultivariate analyses. The impact of other factors did not changemuch with age. Vulnerability factors (female se?;, lower levels ofeducation, having suffered extreme experiences during World War IIand external locus of control) appeared to dominate, while stressescommonly experienced by older people (recent losses in the family andchronic physical illness) also played a part. Of the network-relatedvariables, only a smaller size of the network was associated withanxiety disorders,Conclusions. Anxiety disorders are common in later life. The riskfactors support using a vulnerability-stress model to conceptualizeanxiety disorders. Although the prevalence of risk factors changesdramatically with age, their impact is not age-dependent. The riskfactors indicate which groups of older people are at a high risk foranxiety disorders and in whom active screening and treatment may bewarranted, (C) 1998 John Wiley gr Sons, Ltd.
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