ABSTRACTS - World Psychiatric Association

SS27.2.
THE “CLUSTERING” HYPOTHESIS OF GENERAL
PSYCHIATRIC AND SOMATIC COMORBIDITY
IN THE ELDERLY
A. Lobo, A. Lobo-Escolar, G. Marcos, C. De la Cámara,
A. Campayo, P. Saz, and the ZARADEMP Workgroup
Universidad de Zaragoza; Instituto Aragonés de Ciencias
de la Salud and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red
de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Ministry of Health, Spain
We tested in a representative sample of the elderly population in
Zaragoza, Spain the “clustering” hypothesis about the association of
somatic and psychiatric morbidity. A stratified, random sample of
4,803 individuals aged 55 and over was selected for the baseline study.
The elderly were assessed with standardized, Spanish versions of several
instruments, including the Geriatric Mental State (GMS)-AGE-
CAT. Psychiatric cases were diagnosed according to GMS-AGECAT
criteria, and somatic morbidity was documented with the EURODEM
Risk Factors Questionnaire. Most of the elderly had at least one medical
condition (3,430 individuals, 81.1%), and 2,592 (54%) were considered
to have psychiatric morbidity. In support of the working
hypothesis, in the final, adjusted model, there was a positive and statistically
significant association between general somatic morbidity
and general psychiatric morbidity (OR=1.61; p