Psychiatric morbidity in elderly patients attending OPD of tertiary care centre in western region of Nepal

Abstract

Context: Aging of population is currently a global phenomenon. At least one in 5 people over the age of 65 years will suffer from a mental disorder by 2030. Study of psychiatric morbidities in this age group is essential to prepare for upcoming challenges. Aims: To find out the prevalence of different psychiatric morbidities in elderly population and to find out if there are any age and gender specific differences. Settings and Design: Retrospective review; Psychiatric outpatient department of Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal. Materials and Methods: Data for patients ≥ 65 years of age attending the psychiatric outpatient department of Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal, from 1 st January 2012 to 15 th January 2013 were collected retrospectively in a predesigned proforma. Statistical Analysis Used: Risk of having different psychiatric disorders was estimated using odds ratio. Results: The mean age of 120 patients included in this study was 69.67 (SD = 5.94) years. Depressive disorder (26.7%) was the most common diagnosis. There was no statistically significant difference in psychiatric disorders in >75 years compared with ≤75 years except for dementia [odd ratio (OR) (≤75 years/>75 years)=0.055, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.016; 0.194]. Alcohol dependence syndrome [OR (male/female)=7.826, 95% CI = 1.699;36.705] and dementia [OR (male/female)=3.394, 95% CI = 1.015;11.350] was more common in males. Conclusions: Depressive disorder was the most common psychiatric morbidity among the elderly patients. The odds suffering from dementia increased with increasing age. The odds of having alcohol related problems and dementia were more in males compared with females.

Keywords

• Psychiatric morbidities
• tertiary care center
• Gender