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Ageing and the prevalence and treatment of mental health problems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2013

M. Jokela ,
G. D. Batty  and
M. Kivimäki
M. Jokela*
Affiliation:
Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, UK Department of Psychology, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland
G. D. Batty
Affiliation:
Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, UK Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, UK
M. Kivimäki
Affiliation:
Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, UK Department of Psychology, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr M. Jokela, Department of Psychology, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Siltavuorenpenger 1A, PO Box 9, 00014 Helsinki, Finland. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

Ageing is an important factor in the development of mental health problems and their treatment. We assessed age trajectories of common mental disorders (CMDs) and psychotherapy utilization from adolescence to old age, and examined whether these trajectories were modified by time period or birth cohort effects.

Method

British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) with an 18-year follow-up between 1991 and 2009 (n = 30 224 participants, aged 15–100 years, with an average 7.3 person-observations per person). CMDs were assessed with the 12-item version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Psychotherapy treatment utilization during the past year was self-reported by the participants. The modifying influences of time period and cohort effects were assessed in a cohort-sequential longitudinal setting.

Results

Following a moderate decrease after age 50, the prevalence of GHQ caseness increased steeply from age 75. This increase was more marked in the 2000s (GHQ prevalence increasing from 24% to 43%) than in the 1990s (from 22% to 34%). Psychotherapy utilization decreased after age 55, with no time period or cohort effects modifying the age trajectory. These ageing patterns were replicated in within-individual longitudinal analysis.

Conclusions

Old age is associated with higher risk of CMDs, and this association has become more marked during the past two decades. Ageing is also associated with an increasing discrepancy between prevalence of mental disorders and provision of treatment, as indicated by lower use of psychotherapy in older individuals.

Keywords

Ageinganxietycohort effectdepressionperiod effectpsychological distress
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 43 , Issue 10 , October 2013 , pp. 2037 - 2045
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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