Psychiatric comorbidity among elderly inpatients admitted to a regional geriatric center in Northeast India: a cross-sectional study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20262717Keywords:
Geriatric psychiatry, Psychiatric co-morbidity, Depression, Dementia, Mini-mental state examination, Brief psychiatric rating scaleAbstract
Background: Psychiatric disorders frequently coexist with medical illnesses in elderly patients and often remain under-recognized, adversely affecting treatment outcomes and recovery. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and pattern of psychiatric morbidity among elderly inpatients admitted to a Regional Geriatric Centre and to examine the relationship with socio-demographic characteristics and cognitive status.
Methods: This hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted over one year (August 2016-July 2017) among 85 consecutive inpatients aged ≥60 years admitted to a tertiary care geriatric center in Northeast India. Diagnoses were made using ICD-10 criteria, supported by mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS). Data were summarized using descriptive statistics.
Results: Psychiatric morbidity was present in 40 (47.1%) participants. Depression was the most common disorder (40%), followed by dementia (20%) and substance use disorders (20%). Cognitive impairment was observed in a substantial proportion of patients with psychiatric morbidity. Psychotic symptoms were present in 10 (11.76%) participants.
Conclusions: Nearly half of elderly inpatients had psychiatric co-morbidity, with depression and cognitive disorders being predominant. Routine screening and early psychiatric intervention may improve outcomes in geriatric inpatient care.
Metrics
References
Cauley JA. The demography of aging. In the epidemiology of aging. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. 2012:3-14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5061-6_1
Grover S. Future of psychiatry in India: Geriatric psychiatry, a speciality to watch out. J Geriatr Ment Health. 2014;(1):1913. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/2348-9995.141913
Tiwari SC, Srivastava S. Geropsychiatric morbidity in rural Uttar Pradesh. Indian J Psychiatry. 1998;40(3):266.
Sood A, Singh P, Gargi PD. Psychiatric morbidity in non-psychiatric geriatric inpatients. Indian J Psychiatry. 2006;48(1):56–61. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.31621
Shaji KS, Jithu VP, Jyothi KS. Indian research on aging and dementia. Indian J Psychiatry. 2010;52(1):148–52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.69227
Tirupati SN, Punitha RN. Cognitive decline in elderly medical and surgical inpatients. Indian J Psychiatry. 2005;47(2):99–101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.55954
Prasad KMR, Sreenivas KN, Ashok MV, Bagchi D. Psychogeriatric patients-a sociodemographic and clinical profile. Indian J Psychiatry. 1996;38(3):178–81.
Nandi PS, Banerjee G, Mukherjee SP, Nandi S, Nandi DN. A study of psychiatric morbidity of the elderly population of a rural community in west Bengal. Indian J Psychiatry. 1997;39(2):122–9.
Silva Pereira YD, Estibeiro A, Dhume R, Fernandes J. Geriatric patients attending tertiary care psychiatric hospital. Indian J Psychiatry. 2002;44(4):326–31.
Seby K, Chaudhury S, Chakraborty R. Prevalence of psychiatric and physical morbidity in an urban geriatric population. Indian J Psychiatry. 2011;53(2):121–7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.82535
Tiple P, Sharma SN, Srivastava AS. Psychiatric morbidity in geriatric people. Indian J Psychiatry. 2006;48(2):88–94. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.31596
Wattis JP, Davies KN, Burn WK, McKenzie FR, Brothwell JA. Correlation between Hospital Anxiety Depression (HAD) Scale and other measures of anxiety and depression in geriatric inpatients. Int J Geriat Psych. 1994;9(1):61-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.930090113
Grover S, Irpati AS, Saluja BS, Basu D, Mattoo SK. Drug dependence in the geriatric age group: A clinic-based study. German J Psychiatry. 2008;11:10-5.
Mandal P, Parmar A, Therthani S, Ambekar A. Profile of elderly women seeking treatment for substance use disorders at a tertiary care treatment center. J Substance Use. 2017;22(3):353-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14659891.2016.1217092
Juurlink DN, Herrmann N, Szalai JP, Kopp A, Redelmeier DA. Medical illness and the risk of suicide in the elderly. Arch Int Med. 2004;164(11):1179-84. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.164.11.1179
Grover S, Malhotra N. Depression in elderly: A review of Indian research. J Geriatr Ment Health. 2015;2(1):476. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/2348-9995.161376
Narain JP. Public health challenges in India: seizing the opportunities. Indian J Comm Med. 2016;41(2):85-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0970-0218.177507
Parkes CM. Recent Bereavement as a Cause of Mental Illness. Br J Psychiatry. 1964;110(465):198–204. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.110.465.198
Kar N, Sengupta S, Sharma PS. Diagnosing dementia due to Alzemier’s disease : clinical perspective. Indian J Psychiatry. 2000;42(3):267–70.
Chaturvedi HK, Phukan RK, Mahanta J. The association of selected sociodemographic factors and differences in patterns of substance use: A pilot study in selected areas of Northeast India. Subst Use Misuse. 2003;38(9):1305-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1081/JA-120018488
Waern M, Rubenowitz E, Runeson B, Skoog I, Wilhelmson K, Allebeck P. Burden of illness and suicide in elderly people: case-control study. BMJ. 2002;324(7350):1355. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.324.7350.1355
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
