Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 2008 Oct;65(4):347-55.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2008.03.002.

Somatic and psychiatric comorbidity in the general elderly population: results from the ZARADEMP Project

Antonio Lobo-Escolar  1 , Pedro Saz, Guillermo Marcos, Miguel Angel Quintanilla, Antonio Campayo, Antonio Lobo; ZARADEMP Workgroup
Collaborators, Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Somatic and psychiatric comorbidity in the general elderly population: results from the ZARADEMP Project

Antonio Lobo-Escolar et al. J Psychosom Res. 2008 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: In a representative sample of the elderly population in a southern European city, we tested the hypothesis that there is an association between general somatic and general psychiatric morbidity.

Methods: A stratified random sample of 4803 individuals aged > or =55 years was selected for the baseline study in the ZARADEMP Project. The elderly were assessed with standardized Spanish versions of instruments, including the Geriatric Mental State (GMS)-AGECAT. Psychiatric cases were diagnosed according to GMS-AGECAT criteria, and somatic morbidity was documented with the EURODEM Risk Factors Questionnaire.

Results: General comorbidity clustered in 19.9% of the elderly when hypertension was removed from the somatic conditions category, with 33.5% of the sample remaining free from both somatic and psychiatric illnesses. General comorbidity was associated with age, female gender, and limited education, but did not increase systematically with age. The frequency of psychiatric illness was higher among the somatic cases than among noncases, and the frequency of somatic morbidity among the psychiatric cases was higher than among noncases. This association between somatic and psychiatric morbidity remained statistically significant after controlling for age, gender, and education [odds ratio (OR)=1.61; confidence interval (CI)=1.38-1.88]. Most somatic categories were associated with psychiatric illness, but after adjusting for demographic variables and individual somatic illnesses, the association remained statistically significant only for cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) (OR=1.47; CI=1.09-1.98) and thyroid disease (OR=1.67; CI=1.10-2.54).

Conclusion: This is the first study to document that there is a positive and statistically significant association between general somatic morbidity and general psychiatric morbidity in the (predominantly) elderly population. CVAs and thyroid disease may have more weight in this association.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources