Thapa D K, Visentin D, Kornhaber R, Cleary M
University of Tasmania, College of Health and Medicine, School of Health, Sciences, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Kathmandu Univ Med J (KUMJ). 2018 Apr-Jun;16(62):181-190.
Background There has been limited research into the prevalence of mental disorders amongst older adults in developing countries. Developing countries such as Nepal are undergoing significant demographic changes with an increasing number and proportion of older persons. Objective This systematic review reports the prevalence of mental health disorders amongst the elderly in Nepal. Method Databases searched were PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus and PsycINFO. A hand search for relevant articles appearing in reference lists and previously identified research was also undertaken. Result Of the 26 studies (32 articles) included most were community and aged-care home -based studies measuring depression. The prevalence of depressive symptom cases ranged from 25.5% to 60.6% in the community, 17.3% to 89.1% in aged-care facilities and 53.2% to 57.1% in hospital settings. The prevalence of depressive disorders in similar settings varied between 4.4% (in community) to 53.2% (in hospital). The prevalence of anxiety symptom cases ranged from 21.7% to 32.3%. Psychosis, alcohol dependence and dementia were other identified disorders amongst the elderly. Disordered symptom cases are more prevalent in aged-care facilities than in community settings and mental disorders are higher for hospital-based studies compared to community settings. Conclusion This review identified a higher prevalence of depression amongst the elderly in Nepal compared to studies conducted in developed countries. The high rates of reported prevalence among the elderly warrant the need to develop more effective public health and welfare approaches to prevent, treat and manage the mental disorders among this vulnerable population.
发展中国家针对老年人精神障碍患病率的研究有限。尼泊尔等发展中国家正经历重大人口结构变化，老年人数量和比例不断增加。目的：本系统综述报告尼泊尔老年人心理健康障碍的患病率。方法：检索的数据库有PubMed、CINAHL、Scopus和PsycINFO。还对手检参考文献列表中出现的相关文章以及先前确定的研究进行了检索。结果：纳入的26项研究（32篇文章）中，大多数是基于社区和养老院的抑郁症测量研究。社区中抑郁症状病例的患病率在25.5%至60.6%之间，养老院设施中为17.3%至89.1%，医院环境中为53.2%至57.1%。类似环境中抑郁症的患病率在4.4%（社区）至53.2%（医院）之间。焦虑症状病例的患病率在21.7%至32.3%之间。精神病、酒精依赖和痴呆是老年人中其他已确定的疾病。症状紊乱病例在养老院设施中比在社区环境中更普遍，基于医院的研究中精神障碍的患病率高于社区环境。结论：与在发达国家进行的研究相比，本综述发现尼泊尔老年人中抑郁症的患病率更高。报告的老年人高患病率表明，有必要制定更有效的公共卫生和福利方法，以预防、治疗和管理这一弱势群体中的精神障碍。
