Age-related differences in the frequency of personality disorders among inpatient veterans

• Published in: International journal of geriatric psychiatry Vol. 15; no. 9; pp. 831 - 837
• Main Authors: Kenan, Mary M., Kendjelic, Edward M., Molinari, Victor A., Williams, Wright, Norris, Margaret, Kunik, Mark E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.09.2000; Wiley
• Subjects: Adult; Age Factors; Age of Onset; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Geriatrics; hospital utilization; Humans; Inpatients; Male; Medical sciences; mellowing; Middle Aged; older adults; personality disorder; Personality Disorders - psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Severity of Illness Index; Veterans; Human; Hospital discharge; Middle age; Borderline; Hospitalization; Epidemiology; Personality disorder; Cross sectional study; Mental disorder; Frequency; Diagnosis; Elderly; Comparative study
• ISSN: 0885-6230; 1099-1166
• DOI: 10.1002/1099-1166(200009)15:9<831::AID-GPS208>3.0.CO;2-H

This cross‐sectional study explored age‐related differences in the frequency of diagnosis of personality disorder (PD) among 790 veterans admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit across three age groups: 20–39, 40–59, and 60+. Older adults obtained a lower frequency (55.4%) of PD diagnosis than middle‐aged adults (69.0%), who in turn obtained a lower frequency of PD diagnosis than young adults (75.9%). Older adults and middle‐aged adults were less likely to receive a diagnosis of Borderline PD than young adults. Older adults were also less likely to receive a diagnosis of Mixed PD than young adults, but received significantly more diagnoses of Narcissistic PD than young adults. Patients diagnosed with PD had higher rates of psychiatric hospitalization than those with no diagnosis of PD. Older adults and middle‐aged adults with PD had significantly fewer psychiatric hospitalizations than young adults with PD, whereas there were no age‐related differences in the frequency of medical hospitalizations. These findings are consistent with research suggesting an overall softening of PD features with age, particularly those characteristic of the ‘dramatic‐erratic’, Cluster B types. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.