Publication: Prevalence of Mental Disorders among Older People in Nepal: A Systematic Review
Date
2018
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kathmandu University
Abstract
ABSTRACT
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.
KEY WORDS
Aged, Anxiety, Depression, Elderly, Mental disorders, Nepal, Prevalence
Description
Thapa DK, Visentin D, Kornhaber R, Cleary M
University of Tasmania
College of Health and Medicine, School of Health
Sciences, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Keywords
Aged, Anxiety, Depression, Elderly, Mental disorders, Nepal, Prevalence