Anxiety and Functional Status in Older Primary Care Patients

Objective: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that anxiety in older primary care patients is associated with functional impairment after controlling for depression and medical comorbidity. Method: Primary care patients (n = 303), aged sixty or older were interviewed with a series of instruments designed to measure psychiatric symptoms including anxiety, depression, medical illness burden, and both examiner-rated and self-reported functional status. Anxiety was measured by the anxiety item of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and the anxiety items of the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form SF-36. Multiple regression techniques were used to examine the association of anxiety with functional status after controlling for age, gender, education, medical burden, and depression. Results: When controlled for depression and medical morbidity, increased anxiety predicted poorer social function. Anxiety was not independently associated with more basic activities of daily living. Conclusions: Further studies with more comprehensive measures of anxiety are warranted to clarify the relationships between anxiety and functional status.