Læknablaðið : fylgirit - 01.12.1983, Qupperneq 60

58
Meðferð með þunglyndislyfjum í litlum skömmt-
um er oft nægjanleg, en einstaka sinnum þarf að
grípa til raflækninga. Sjúklingar, sem auk þung-
lyndisins hafa alvarlega líkamlega kvilla, hafa oft
verri horfur, þrátt fyrir rétta meðferð (9). Ekki er
ósennilegt, að hluti þeirra 128 sjúklinga með
langvarandi þunglyndiseinkenni hafi ekki fengið
fullnægjandi meðhöndlun, þar sem hér er um að
ræða tæp 60% af öllum sjúklingum með geð-
brigðasjúkdóma á aldrinum 75-81 árs. Aður en
hægt er að fullyrða nokkuð um þetta, verður að
fara fram ítarlegri rannsókn á geðbrigðasjúkdóm-
um aldraðra og tengslum þeirra við líkamlega
sjúkdóma.
SUMMARY
Frevalence »f mental disorders in the aged, course and
frequency of hospital admittance.
A cohort of all Icelanders born in the years 1895-1897
was studied (Table I). The information on mental health
was obtained from general practitioners, hospital
records, and other sources. The prevalence of senile
brain syndromes (Primary Degenerative Dementia and
Multi-Infarct Dementia) was 10% for the average age of
75 years, rising to 16,9% for the average age of 81 years
(Table III). As is expected, senile brain syndromes run a
chronic course, but the high proportion of permanent
affective syndromes is rather surprising (Table IV). It is
open to speculation whether this could, in some cases, be
the result of insufficient treatment.
Hospitalization increases with increasing age (Table
V and VI), and more than half of the patients admitted
because of mental disorders are admitted to a non-
psychiatric ward (Table VII). At a later age, however,
people with mental disorders are mainly admitted to
nursing homes (Table VIII).
HEIMILDIR
1. Helgason, T. Epidemiology of Mental Disorders in
Iceland. Acta Psyciat. Scand. 1964. Suppl. 173.
2. Helgason, T. Epidemiology of Mental Disorders in
Iceland: A geriatric follow-up (preliminary report).
In: De La Fuente. R. & M.N. Wiesman: Psychiatry
(Part 1). Excerpta Medica International Congress
Series. 1973; 274; 350-7.
3. Magnússon, H. & Helgason, T. Epidemiology of
Mental Disorders in the Aged in Iceland. In:
Magnussen, G., Nielsen, J. and Buch, J.. Epidemi-
ology and prevention of Mental Illness in Old Age,
29-33. Nordisk Samrád for Eldreaktivitet 1981.
4. Haraldsson, E.P. & Þengilsson, G. Könnun á högum
aldraðra í Kópavogi. Læknablaðið 1979; 8. Fylgirit
nr. 8; 32-4.
5. Kay, D.W.K., Bergman, K. et al. Mental Illness and
Hospital Usage in the Elderly: A Random Sample
Follow-up. Copmrh. Psychiatry 1979; 11; 26-35.
6. Gurland, B., Dean, L. et al. The Epidemiology of
Depression and Dementia in the Elderly: The Use
of Multiple Indicators of these Condition. In:
Psyhopathology in the Aged (ed. Cole, J.O., Barett,
J.E.) 37-60. Raven Press, New York 1980.
7. Post, F. The Functional Psychosis. In: Studies in
Geriatric Psychitatry (ed. Isaacs, A.D., Post, F.):
83-5. John Wiley & Sons. New York 1978.
8. Gordon, W.F. Elderly Depressives; Treatment and
Follow-up. Can. J. Psych. 1981; 26; 110-3.
9. Post, F. The Management and Nature of Depressive
Illnesses in Late Life: A Follow through Study. Brit.
J. Psychiat. 1972; 121; 393-404.