Am J Psychiatry 1996; 153:677-681
Copyright © 1996 by American Psychiatric Association
Psychiatric disorders in African American nursing home residents
CA Class, FW Unverzagt, S Gao, KS Hall, O Baiyewa and HC Hendrie
Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis 46202, USA.
OBJECTIVE: High prevalence rates of psychiatric illness and high levels of
behavioral disturbance have been reported in studies of nursing home
residents; however, the populations evaluated have been predominantly
Caucasian. The aims of the present study were to identify prevalence rates
of psychiatric disorders and behavioral disturbances in a sample of African
American nursing home residents. METHODS: The authors evaluated 106 African
American nursing home residents, aged 65 and over, from a representative
sample of nursing homes. The evaluation included informant interview with
nursing home staff, cognitive assessment, and a psychiatric interview that
included a physical and neurological examination. Consensus diagnoses were
reached by using DSM- III-R criteria. RESULTS: Of the 106 subjects, 90%
received at least one primary psychiatric diagnosis, and 71% had at least
one behavioral problem; dementia was the most common psychiatric diagnosis
(68%). Thirty -one percent of the patients were treated with neuroleptic
medication; most of these patients received diagnoses of dementia or
schizophrenia. Fifteen percent of the patients had been in physical
restraints, which correlated with physical disability. CONCLUSIONS: The
prevalence of psychiatric illness in this sample of African American
nursing home residents is similar to that reported in previous studies with
predominantly Caucasian populations. Behavioral disturbances, while
commonly reported, were somewhat less frequent than reported in previous
studies.
