Prevalence of the Major Mental Disorders among the Korean Elderly

Abstract

With a rapidly aging society, geriatric mental health is emerging as important public health concern. Despite the short history of psychiatric epidemiology in Korea, recently, epidemiologic data regarding geriatric psychiatric problems has started to accumulate. In the current study, we reviewed epidemiological findings regarding geriatric mental health in Korea. It was found that up to 10% of the elderly suffer from dementia, and 10% to 20% from depressive disorder. Further, prevalence estimates of Alzheimer's disease ranged from 4.2% to 9.0%, and vascular dementia from 1.0% to 4.8%. Annual incidence rates for Alzheimer's were 2.7% to 3.4% whereas that for vascular dementia was found to be as low as 0.3%. The prevalence of major depressive disorder was 4.2% to 9.1%, while that of clinically significant depressive symptom was between 9.1% and 33.0%. Finally, those with alcohol use disorders were found to comprise up to 13.6% of elderly population and additionally, 22% to 58% of the elderly were found to have sleep difficulties. Thus major mental disorders are already prevalent among the Korean elderly and are likely to increase rapidly.

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Traditional Korean East Asian Medicines and Herbal Formulations for Cognitive Impairment

“…The prevalence of overall dementia in Korea ranged from 6.3% to 13.0%, while estimates of the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) ranged from 4.2% to 9.0%, and those of vascular dementia (VD) ranged from 1.0% to 4.8%. Almost all studies carried out in Korea have reported an increased risk of AD with advanced age [17].…”