Summary
As part of a systematic epidemiological survey of mental disorders in two Athenian boroughs, a probability sample of 251 elderly community residents was examined by a psychiatrist. For the assessment of their mental health, symptom screening scales were used (Langner and CES-D). Cognitive functioning was also evaluated. An overall psychological functioning profile was composed from previously derived mental health levels. Clinical diagnostic examination was based on a semi-structured schedule (PEF) supplemented by DSM-III criteria.
A higher proportion of females than males were characterised as psychologically impaired, reporting nonspecific symtoms of distress. Older respondents of lower socioeconomic status experiencing stressful life events, such as living alone or having been exposed to migration in the past, exhibited a significant degree of psychopathology. Of the sample, 20.3% was diagnosed as suffering from a specific psychiatric illness. The prevalence of organic mental disorders was 5.6% and affective disorders of any type constituted nearly half of the diagnosed psychiatric “cases”. The implications of this survey are of great importance for the design and the development of preventive strategies and community-based interventions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association (1980). Diagnostic and Statistical Mannual of Mental Disorders 3rd edn DSM-III, Division of Public Affairs. American Psychiatric Association, Washington
Ben Arie O, Swartz L, Dickman BJ (1987) Depression in the elderly living in the Community. Its presentation and features. Br J Psychiatry 150:169–174
Blazer D (1980) Depression in the late life. Mosby, London
Blazer D, Hughes DC, George LK (1987) The epidemiology of depression in an elderly community population. Gerontologist 27:281–287
Blazer D, Williams CD (1980) Epidemiology of dysphoria and depression in an elderly population. Am J Psychiatry 137:439–444
Bowling A (1990) The prevalence of psychiatric morbility among people aged 85 and over living at home. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 25:132–140
Carpiniello B, Carta MG, Rudas N (1989) Depression among elderly people. Acta Psychiatr Scand 80:445–450
Cohen J (1960) A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educ Psychol Meas 20:37–46
Cohen NA (1982) On loneliness and the aging process. Int J Psycho-Anal 63:149–155
Cooper B, Schwartz R (1982) Psychiatric case identification in an elderly urban population. Social Psychiatry 17:43–52
Copeland JR, Dewey ME, Wood N, Searl R, Davidson IA, McWilliam C (1987) Range of mental illness among the elderly in the community. Prevalence in Liverpool using the GMS-AGECAT package. Br J Psychiatry 150:815–823
Endicott J, Spitzer RL (1972) What! Another rating scale? The Psychiatric Evaluation Form. J Nerv Ment Dis 154:88–104
Ferraro K, Mutran E, Barpesic C (1984) Widowhood, health and frienship support in later life. J Health Soc Behav 25:245–259
Gove W, Tudor F (1973) Adult sex roles and mental illness. Am J Social 78:812–834
Gunner-Svensson F, Jensen K (1976) Frequency of mental disorders in old age. Acta Psychiatr Scand 53:283–297
Gurland B, Gross PS (1982) Epidemiology of psychopathology in old age. Psychiatr Clin North Am 5:11–26
Gurland B, Copeland J, Kuriansky J, Kelleher M, Sharpe L, Dean LL (1983) The mind and wood of ageing. Croom Helm, London
Henderson AS, Kay DWK (1984) The epidemiology of mental disorders in the aged. In: Kay DWK, Rorrows G (eds) Handbook of studies in psychiatry and old age. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 25–39
Henderson AS, Scott R, Kay DWK (1984). The elderly who live alone. Austr NZ J Psychiatry 20:202–209
Henderson AS, Grayson DA, Scott R, Wilson J, Rickwood D, Kay DWK (1986) Social support dementia and depression among the elderly living in the Hobart community. Psychol Med 16:379–390
Kay DWK, Bergmann K (1980) Epidemiology of mental disorders among the aged in the community. In: Birren J, Sloane RB (eds) Handbook of Mental Health and Ageing. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, pp 34–56
Kivela SL, Nissinen A, Tuomilehto J, Pekkanen J, Puasal S, Lammi UK, Puska P (1986) Prevalence of depressive and other symptoms in elderly Finnish men. Arch Psychiatr Scand 73:93–100
Langner TS (1962) A twenty-two item screening score of psychiatric symptoms indicating impairment. J Health Hum Behav 3:269–276
Link B, Dohrenwend B (1980). Formulation of hypotheses about the true prevalence of demoralization in the United States. In: Dohrenwend BP, Dohrenwend BS, Schwartz-Gould M, Link B, Neugebauer R, Wunsch-Hitzing R (eds) Mental illness in the United States. Praeger, New York, pp 114–129
Madianos M (1980) Acculturation and mental health of Greek immigrants. In: Hudolin V (ed) Social Psychiatry. Plenum Press, New York, pp 549–558
Madianos M (1989) Mental Health and Society, Vol I. Introduction to Social Psychiatry. Kastanioti, Athens, (in Greek)
Madianos M, Madianou D (1988). Athens, Greece. In: Giel R, Henderson J, Hanibal J, Ten Horn GHMM (eds) Mental health services in pilot study areas. WHO, Copenhagen, pp 323–337
Madianos M, Stefanis C, Madianou D (1987) Prevalence of mental disorders and utilization of mental health services in two areas of Greater Athens. In: Cooper B (ed) Psychiatric epidemiology progress and the prospects. Croom Helm, London, pp 372–386
Madianos M, Vlachonicolis J, Madianou D, Stefanis C (1985) Prevalence of psychological disorders in the Athens area. Acta Psychiatr Scand 71:479–487
Madianos M, Zarnari O (1988): Health and the Greek society, an empirical study. Athens National Center for Social Research (in Greek)
Morgan K, Dallosso HM, Arie T, Byrne EJ, Jones R, Waite J (1987) Mental health and psychological well-being among the old and the very old living at home. Br J Psychiatry 150:801–807
Murphy E (1989) Social origins of depression in old age. Br J Psychiatry 141:135–142
Murphy J (1989) The epidemiologic face of late-life depression. J Geriatr Psychiatr 22:67–75
Nilsson LV, Persson G (1984) Prevalence of mental disorders in an urban sample examination at 70, 75 and 79 years of age. Acta Psychiatr Scand 69:519–527
Nunally J (1967) Psychometric theory. McGraw Hill, New York
Pattie AH, Gilleard GJ (1975) A brief psychogeriatric assessment schedule: Validation against psychiatric diagnosis and discharge from hospital. Br J Psychiatry 127:489–493
Persson G (1980) Prevalence of mental disorders in a 70-years-old urban population. Acta Psychiatr Scand 62:119–139
Pfeiffer E (1975) A Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire for the Assessment of Organic definit in elderly patients. J Am Geriatr Soc 10:433–441
Pitsiou E (1986) Social and psychological adaptation of aging among older Athenians, Vol II. National Center of Social Research, Athens
Post F (1982) Affective disorders in old age. In: Paykel ES (ed) Handbook of Affective Disorders. Churchill, Edinburgh
Shepherd M (1984) Editorial: Psychogeriatrics and the neoepidemiologists. Psychol Med 14:1–4
SPSS-X (1983) McGraw Hill, New York
Surtees P, Ingham J (1980) Life stress and depressive outcome: Application of a dissipation model to life events. Soc Psychiatry 15:21–31
Weissman MM, Myers JK (1985) Depression in the elderly. J Geriatr Psychiatry 12:187–201
Wilkinson SJ, James O, Davies ADM (1985) Life stress and depression in the elderly: experiences from a community study. In: Butler A (ed) Ageing: Recent advances and creative responses. Croom Helm, London, pp 250–262
World Health Organization (1985) Dementia in later life research and action. Report of WHO Scientific Group on senile dementia. Technical Report Series. WHO, Geneva
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gournas, G., Madianos, M.G. & Stefanis, C.N. Psychological functioning and psychiatric morbidity in an elderly urban population in Greece. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Nuerosci 242, 127–134 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02191560
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02191560