[Prevalence, diagnosis and treatment of personality disorders in older adults]

Personality disorders in older adults: findings from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions

OBJECTIVES

To examine the prevalence, sociodemographic correlates, psychiatric and medical comorbidities, and the disability of personality disorders among adults age 65 years and older.

METHODS

Data were drawn from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, focusing on a subsample of 8,205 adults age 65 years and older.

RESULTS

A total of 8.07% (SE: 0.37) of American adults age 65 years and older presented at least one personality disorder. The most prevalent personality disorder was the obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. The overall pattern of associations between each personality disorder and lifetime psychiatric comorbidity correlates was statistically significant. Participants with a personality disorder show a lower quality of life than their counterparts.

CONCLUSIONS

Personality disorders in older adults are highly associated with disability, medical, and psychiatric disorders. These findings highlight the need to develop more effective prevention and intervention programs in this specific population.

Obsessive compulsive personality disorder and Parkinson's disease

Objectives

To evaluate the frequency of personality disorders in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients and in a group of healthy controls.

Methods

Patients affected by PD diagnosed according to the United Kingdom Parkinson’s disease Society Brain Bank diagnostic criteria and a group of healthy controls were enrolled in the study. PD patients with cognitive impairment were excluded from the study. Structured Clinical Interview for Personality Disorders-II (SCID-II) has been performed to evaluate the presence of personality disorders. Presence of personality disorders, diagnosed according to the DSM-IV, was confirmed by a psychiatric interview. Clinical and pharmacological data were also recorded using a standardized questionnaire.

Results

100 PD patients (57 men; mean age 59.0±10.2 years) and 100 healthy subjects (52 men; mean age 58.1±11.4 years) were enrolled in the study. The most common personality disorder was the obsessive-compulsive personality disorder diagnosed in 40 PD patients and in 10 controls subjects (p-value<0.0001) followed by the depressive personality disorder recorded in 14 PD patients and 4 control subjects (p-value 0.02). Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder was also found in 8 out of 16 de novo PD patients with a short disease duration.

Conclusion

PD patients presented a high frequency of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder that does not seem to be related with both disease duration and dopaminergic therapy.