Aging and mental health problems: a study on the elderly in urban China

Abstract The subjects of this study were first-time elderly patients (83 males and 120 females, mean age= 68.8) who attended a mental health center in Shanghai over a period of 12 months. The elderly patients were over-represented by those who were better educated and married with spouse, with a slight tendency for females to outnumber males. Sleep disturbance, paranoid ideation, and anxiety were the three most common presenting problems. In terms of clinical diagnosis, the elderly patients were characterized by dementia, paranoid disorder, and organic psychosis. Comparisons with adult patients were made and implications of the findings discussed.