Factors Determining the Level of Anxiety State in Geriatric Primary Care Patients in a Community Dwelling

The association of psychosocial factors and depression with hypertension among older adults

“…Anxiety was predictive of hypertension over an 18-to 20-year period in the Framingham Study, but only in middle-aged men, with no association in women or older men (Markovitz et al, 1993). Others have reported that anxiety decreases with age (Oxman et al, 1987;Smith et al, 1994). Previous research has also determined social support to be a significant predictor of hypertension (Cottington et al, 1985;Levenstein et al, 2001).…”

“…Among those studies that have examined the relationship between depression and hypertension, there have been inconsistent results attributed to the lack of consideration of anxiety. A strong relationship between depression and anxiety exists, (Smith et al, 1994;Beekman et al, 2000) and because of the coexistence of these two conditions, considering the effects anxiety is essential in order to accurately discern the relationship between depression and hypertension. Furthermore, psychosocial factors, including social support and increased stress, are related to elevated blood pressure (Cottington et al, 1985;Markovitz et al, 1993;Levenstein et al, 2001;Tsutsumi et al, 2001).…”

High prevalence of anxiety symptoms in hospitalized geriatric patients

“…The score difference between the patients and the controls in this study was striking. Anxiety symptoms have been reported to relate strongly to physical health (Smith et al, 1994;Hocking and Koenig, 1995;Sandanger et al, 1999), which is generally poorer among geriatric patients. This may contribute to the high scoring among the geriatric patients in this study.…”

Feelings of anxiety and associated variables in a very elderly population

“…Anxiety has also been found to be associated with decreased health and stressful life events, both probably more common in old age than in younger age groups (Smith et al, 1994(Smith et al, , 1995.…”