What diseases affect elderly Mexican population? Clinical and socialdemographic characteristics of patients of the psychogeriatric clinic of the National Institute of Psychiatry

Abstract

Introduction. The demographic and epidemiological transition, as well as the aging population has changed how older adults are treated in our healthcare system. Objective. To establish the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the patients from the Psychogeriatric Clinic (PC) of the Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz National Institute of Psychiatry (INPRFM) seen between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2020. Method. Descriptive, observational, cross-sectional, retrospective study. A database was created with the information from digital clinical records. No additional scales were used. Statistical analysis performed in SPSS 20.0. Results. 2056 records were found, 1247 met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 74.28 years, women 73.46% (n = 916), primary school 46.62% (n = 427), married 35.70% (n = 327), urban area 93.99% (n = 1172), home-based 78.28% (n = 717), low socioeconomic level 59.99% (n = 522). The most common psychiatric pathology was depressive disorders 62.07% (n = 774) and neurocognitive disorders 37.52% (n = 468) due to Alzheimer’s disease 17.08% (n = 213), with Mini-Mental State Examination of 18.88 points (± 6.68). They had comorbidities such as arterial hypertension 52.85% (n = 659), diabetes mellitus 23.34% (n = 291) and had a geriatric syndrome in 64.42% (n = 218). Discussion and conclusion. Aging in Mexico affects the female population the most. The analysis report from the prevalence for psychogeriatric pathologies of the PC it’s for of its kind. The main goal is promoting research on dementias and highlighting the magnitude of the problem for Latin American governments. The results are not intended to be extrapolated to the general population.