PTSD in the Elderly? Yes!
Fri, July 4, 2008 at 02:57AM We think of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) as something that’s encountered in accident victims, and in soldiers returning from the battle area – mostly relatively young persons. But that is a fallacy, according to a new article in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
German physicians assessed 3,170 adults living in a community, examining their risk of exposure to trauma and subsequent symptoms of PTSD. They were classified into three age groups: 44 and below, 45-64, and 65 and above.
Overall, 1,730 (55%) of the subjects reported at least one traumatic experience. Those in the elderly group were about 4 times more likely to have had such an experience, compared with the younger subjects; the middle-aged fell in between. And elderly men were more likely to be traumatized than elderly women.
Among the traumatized, the prevalence of PTSD was about the same, whatever their age group – about 2%. However, elderly PTSD patients were more likely to have a psychiatric syndrome – commonly depression or anxiety – than younger PTSD sufferers.
The findings show that traumatic events are common in older adults, and that PTSD is a frequent consequence. Family physicians, other health professionals, and family members should remember this – the event may not always be witnessed, or reported by the victim.
Reader Comments (2)
Did anyone consider the higher prevalence of PTSD in the elderly was due the Nazi regime and subsequent holocaust. The eldest of your test group would be from this time period whereas the rest would only remember reconstruction if that.
I was waiting for an expert to reply, but nothing has appeared. I went back to the original article, and found that the elderly group in the study were born between 1918 and 1940. So all of them can be assumed to have exeprienced the traumatic effects of the war, as children or young adults. Combat or war zone experience was the most frequent trauma reported in this group. However, it seems improbable to my mind that the study collective (all living in NE Germany) included many holocaust survivors. Rather, the immediate post-war struggle for survival probably contributed most of the trauma recorded.
Yours, Bob G.