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- Title
Psychological Disorders in Old Age.
- Authors
Kua Ee Heok; Mahendran, Rathi; Goh Lee Gan; Feng Lei
- Abstract
The data is from our 5-year study on dementia prevention in Singapore using non-drug interventions. This is a cohort study of seniors, 60 years or more, living near Jurong Point Mall. Our nurses surveyed 50 blocks of public housing flats around Jurong Point Mall and invited seniors 60 years of more to our research base called Training and Research Academy (TaRA) in Jurong Point Mall. We planned for 1000 seniors but only 644 participated. Assessment included physical, mental and social health. Biological markers included full blood count, renal and liver function tests, thyroid hormone, vitamin B6 and 12, immunological studies, and MRI brain scan. The non-drug interventions are health education, tai-chi exercise, mindfulness practice and art, music and horticultural activities. For those with mild cognitive disorder, we conducted 4 randomised controlled trials (RCT) comparing health education and mindfulness practice, art, music and horticultural activities. We had a fortnightly consensus meeting by 3 psychiatrists and the diagnosis is based on DSM 5. The 644 seniors were assessed by nurses, psychologists, and psychiatrists. The prevalence of psychological disorders in the beginning of the study was depression 7.3% and dementia 1.9%. In the RCTs, we found that cognitive functions improved marginally in mindfulness practice and art activity compared with health education. Social connectedness improved most in the music-reminiscence and choral singing group. After 5 years, the prevalence of depression was 4.5%, anxiety 0.9% and dementia 2.9%. It is possible to prevent psychological disorders in old age using non-drug interventions, but it is not possible to prevent all psychological disorders.
- Subjects
SINGAPORE; OLD age; BLOOD cell count; HEALTH education; SOCIAL belonging; VITAMIN B6
- Publication
Malaysian Journal of Medicine & Health Sciences, 2023, Vol 19, p6
- ISSN
1675-8544
- Publication type
Abstract