[Anxiety in a representative sample of the Spanish population over 50 years-old]

Introduction: Anxiety is common throughout the ageing process. The objective of this study is to estimate the prevalence of anxiety in a representative sample of the Spanish population over 50 years-old.

Material and methods: The data of this study come from the Pilot Study developed within the Longitudinal Ageing Study in Spain (ELES), in which a representative sample of the non-institutionalised Spanish population was evaluated. An analysis was performed on the data of 1086 people who answered the question «I am now going to read a list with a series of diseases or health problems. I would like you to tell me if your doctor has diagnosed any of them». The tools used were a questionnaire consisting of 218 questions, along with standardised tests, such as the Spanish version of the Mini-Mental State Examination.

Results: Anxiety was reported to have been diagnosed at some time in 14.3% of the sample. The prevalence was higher in women than in men (77.8 vs. 22.2%), decreasing with age, and related to different chronic diseases.

Conclusions: The results show that the prevalence of anxiety throughout the lifespan is noticeable in people over 50 years, and should be taken into account, especially in the female population and in those with chronic diseases.