Incidence of Anxiety in Latest Life and Risk Factors. Results of the AgeCoDe/AgeQualiDe Study
Franziska Welzel, Melanie Luppa, Alexander Pabst, Michael Pentzek, Ângela Fuchs, Dagmar Weeg, Horst Bickel, Siegfried Weyerer, Jochen Werle, Birgitt Wiese, Anke Oey, Christian Brettschneider, Hans‐Helmut König, Kathrin Heser, Hendrik van den Bussche, Marion Eisele, Wolfgang Maier, Martin Scherer, Michael Wagner, Steffi G. Riedel‐Heller
Abstract
Research on anxiety in oldest-old individuals is scarce. Specifically, incidence studies based on large community samples are lacking. The objective of this study is to assess age- and gender-specific incidence rates in a large sample of oldest-old individuals and to identify potential risk factors. The study included data from N = 702 adults aged 81 to 97 years. Anxiety symptoms were identified using the short form of the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI-SF). Associations of potential risk factors with anxiety incidence were analyzed using Cox proportional hazard models. Out of the N = 702 older adults, N = 77 individuals developed anxiety symptoms during the follow-up period. The incidence rate was 51.3 (95% CI: 41.2-64.1) per 1000 person-years in the overall sample, compared to 58.5 (95% CI: 43.2-72.4) in women and 37.3 (95% CI: 23.6-58.3) in men. Multivariable analysis showed an association of subjective memory complaints (HR: 2.03, 95% CI: 1.16-3.57) and depressive symptoms (HR: 3.20, 95% CI: 1.46-7.01) with incident anxiety in the follow-up. Incident anxiety is highly common in late life. Depressive symptoms and subjective memory complaints are major risk factors of new episodes. Incident anxiety appears to be a response to subjective memory complaints independent of depressive symptoms.