Wetherell Julie Loebach, Le Roux Hillary, Gatz Margaret
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0603, USA.
Psychol Aging. 2003 Sep;18(3):622-7. doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.18.3.622.
This study compared 36 older adults with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), 22 older adults with subsyndromal anxiety symptoms, and 32 normal controls on criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) for GAD. GAD patients reported more frequent and uncontrollable worry, somewhat different worry content, higher prevalence of most associated symptoms, and more distress or impairment than the subsyndromal group or normal controls. Individuals with subsyndromal anxiety reported more excessive, frequent, and uncontrollable worry than asymptomatic individuals, along with more sleep disturbance, fatigue, and distress or impairment. Results indicate that the key features of late-life GAD are distress and impairment, frequency and uncontrollability of worry, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance and that clinicians treating older adults with GAD should monitor and treat residual symptoms.
本研究比较了36名患有广泛性焦虑症（GAD）的老年人、22名有亚综合征焦虑症状的老年人和32名正常对照者，依据《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》（第4版）中GAD的标准进行评估。与亚综合征组或正常对照组相比，GAD患者报告的担忧更频繁且无法控制，担忧内容略有不同，大多数相关症状的患病率更高，痛苦或功能损害更严重。有亚综合征焦虑的个体比无症状个体报告了更多过度、频繁且无法控制的担忧，同时伴有更多的睡眠障碍、疲劳以及痛苦或功能损害。结果表明，老年期GAD的关键特征是痛苦和功能损害、担忧的频率和无法控制性、肌肉紧张以及睡眠障碍，并且治疗老年GAD患者的临床医生应监测并治疗残留症状。
