Abstract
Psychological distress was evaluated in two groups of medical in-patients, one composed of geriatric subjects (N = 178), the other of adults (N = 201). The instrument used for this purpose was the SCL-90. The predominant patterns of emotional response among the geriatric patients were depression and obsessive-compulsive disturbances; although these patterns were also present among the adult patients, reactions of an anxious type were more common in these subjects. Women of both groups of patients scored significantly higher than men on many of the subscales of the SCL-90. No significant differences emerged in relation to the type of organic disease among the adult patients, while among the geriatric patients, subjects with disorders of the CNS, musculoskeletal apparatus and blood scored significantly higher than those with other diseases.
Translated title of the contribution | Psychological distress in medical inpatients: A comparison between geriatric and adult subjects through the SCL-90 |
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Original language | Italian |
Pages (from-to) | 227-232 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Minerva Psichiatrica |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 4 |
Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 1984 |