Abstract
Background
The prevalence and associated factors related to psychotic symptoms in older adults are understudied. The objectives were to assess the prevalence, incidence and factors associated with psychotic symptoms in a representative Greek sample of community living older adults.
Methods
The sample includes n = 1,904 residents of the cities of Larissa and Maroussi in Greece participating in the Hellenic Longitudinal Investigation of Aging and Diet study with available data at baseline and n = 947 individuals at the 3-year follow-up. Past-month presence of delusions and hallucinations was assessed on the grounds of the 17 symptoms of the Columbia University Scale for Psychopathology in Alzheimer's Disease and 14 symptoms of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire. A comprehensive neuropsychological assessment for probable diagnosis of dementia and physical comorbidity was carried out by neurologists. Penalized logistic regression analyses were used to assess the socio-economic and clinical factors associated with psychotic symptoms.
Results
Past-month prevalence of psychotic symptoms was 1.9% and 1.0% when excluding cases of dementia. The prevalence of any delusion and hallucination was 0.8% and 0.3% when excluding dementia. The incidence of psychotic symptoms without dementia was 1.3%. Recent widows and farmers/breeders/craftsmen, versus public servants/teachers/executives, had both six times the odds of experiencing psychotic symptoms without dementia. Hearing impairment and the number of health conditions also increased the odds while increased age was protective.
Conclusion
Psychotic symptoms unrelated to dementia constitute a considerable mental health problem in old age. Paranoid delusions were the most prevalent. Socio-economic and health status factors are significant predictors of psychotic symptoms.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data, in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.
Correction Statement
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.