Abstract
Although there is evidence that anxiety disorders are relatively common in later life, they have received less attention than other psychiatric disturbances. In a large community-based study of older people (n = 3056, 55-85 years) in the Netherlands, the prevalence of anxiety disorders was estimated at 10.2%. Generalized anxiety (7.3%) and the phobic disorder (3.1%) were quite common, while panic disorder (1.0%) and obsessive compulsive disorder (0.6%) appear to be relatively rare among the elderly. The study of risk factors supports using the vulnerability-stress model to conceptualize the etiology of anxiety disorders. On the whole, vulnerability factors appear to dominate the etiology of anxiety disorders in later life.
Translated title of the contribution | Anxiety disorders in later life: A study of prevalence and risk factors |
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Original language | Dutch |
Pages (from-to) | 634-648 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie |
Volume | 39 |
Issue number | 8 |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 1997 |