Specific Phobia Disorder Symptoms in People over 65 in Madrid: A Network Analysis

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are one of the most prevalent conditions among mental disorders in individuals over 65 years old. The studies regarding anxiety disorders in the elderly in Western countries included in the meta-analysis by Volkert et al. (2013) show variable results regarding prevalence, ranging between 2.3% and 8.9%. The most prevalent disorders were specific phobias (current prevalence = 4.52%; lifetime prevalence = 6.66%). Similarly, Cisneros and Ausín (2018) found great variability in the results of 36 studies analyzed over the last 20 years, finding data ranging from 3.6% (Alonso et al., 2004) to 17.2% (Andreas et al., 2017). Older women are at a higher risk of suffering from an anxiety disorder over the past year than men, and there is a negative correlation between age and the prevalence of that anxiety disorder (Canuto et al., 2017). In regard to the prevalence of specific phobia disorder (SPD) among people over 65 years old, a recent study shows a 12-month prevalence of approximately 12% (Ausín et al., 2020). These authors found that women were more than twice as likely to suffer from a specific phobia disorder than men; furthermore, its prevalence decreased with age in both genders. This study reveals the differences among the rates of different types of phobias by gender and age, pointing out that people over 65 years old mostly fear the stimuli related to the natural environment, followed by animals, blood/injection/injuries, and specific situations. In terms of gender differences in types of specific phobia, this study reveals that women are up to seven times more likely to suffer from an Clínica y Salud (2022) xx(x) xx-xx