FACTORS DETERMINING THE LEVEL OF ANXIETY STATE IN GERIATRIC PRIMARY-CARE PATIENTS IN A COMMUNITY-DWELLING

The authors examined the association between anxiety state and various sociodemographic factors, as well as measures of general health, mood, and stress in a community-dwelling, geriatric population. A survey questionnaire designed for the study was completed by 123 randomly selected subjects. Univariable linear regression analysis showed anxiety state to have an inverse association with age (beta = -0.29, P = 0.0001) and general health measures (P = 0.0001), and to have a direct relationship with depression (beta=0.78, P = 0.0001), life stress events (beta = 0.98, P = 0.01), and medical comorbidity (beta=1.04, P = 0.01). Gender differences in anxiety state were not found. The results provide a framework to begin understanding those factors that contribute to anxiety states in late life. This study revealed anxiety and depression to be highly correlated even in elderly subjects who reported low levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms.