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Prevalence of Psychiatric 

Disorders among the Rural 

Geriatric Population: A Pilot Study 

in Karnataka, India 

 

Sreejith S. Nair1, Pooja 

Raghunath2, Sreekanth S. Nair3 

 
1Department of Community Medicine, 
Navodaya Medical College, Raichur, 
Karnataka, India; 2Department of 
Microbiology, Pushpagiri Institute of 
Medical Sciences and Research Center, 
Tiruvalla, Kottayam, Kerala, India; 
3Department of Forensic Medicine, 
Academy of Medical Sciences, Pariyaram, 
Kannur, Kerala, India 

 

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Abstract 

Background: Increasing life expectancy around the world, an outstanding achievement of our century, has brought with it new 

public health challenges. India is the second most populous country in the world, with over 72 million inhabitants above 60 years 

of age as of 2001. The life expectancy in India increased from 32 years in 1947 to over 66 years in 2010, with 8.0% of the population 

now reaching over 60 years of age. Few studies in India target the health, especially mental health, of this geriatric population. This 

study aims to estimate the current prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the geriatric population of the rural area of 

Singanodi,Karnataka, India. 

Methods: This cross sectional, epidemiological, community-based study was conducted in a rural health training area of Singanodi, 

Raichur District, Karnataka, India.The General Health Questionnaire-12, Mini Mental State Examination, and Geriatric Depression 

Scale were administered to 366 participants. Chi square tests with Yates correction were utilized for statistical analysis using SPSS 

19.0 software. 

Results:We found that 33.9% of the geriatric population in the selected province were above the threshold for mental illness based 

on the GHQ-12 questionnaire. Females had a higher prevalence of mental disorder at 77.6% (152 out of 196) as compared to males 

who had a prevalence of 42.4% (72 out of 170). The most common psychiatric disorder was depression (21.9%), and generalized 

anxiety was present in 10.7% of the study population. Prevalence of cognitive impairment was 16.3%, with a significantly higher 

percentage of  affected individuals in 80+ age group.  

Conclusion: Mental disorders are common among elderly people, but they are not well documented in rural India. The assessment 

of psychiatric disorder prevalence will help strengthen psycho-geriatric services and thus improve the quality of life of the elderly.  

A system that ensures comprehensive health care will have to be developed for this purpose as part of our future efforts. 

Keywords: psychiatric disorder, depression, anxiety, geriatric, aging, India 

Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders 

among the Rural Geriatric 

Population: A Pilot Study in 

Karnataka, India 

Sreejith S. Nair1, Pooja Raghunath2, 

Sreekanth S. Nair3 

 
1Department of Community Medicine, 
Navodaya Medical College, Raichur, 
Karnataka, India; 2Department of 
Microbiology, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical 
Sciences and Research Center, Tiruvalla, 
Kottayam, Kerala, India; 3Department of 
Forensic Medicine, Academy of Medical 
Sciences, Pariyaram, Kannur, Kerala, India 

Research 

Aging refers to the multidimensional process of 

physical, psychological, and social change.1 Recent 

advances in health sciences and improvement in social 

conditions have led to an increase in life expectancy in 

most countries of the world.2 However, increased life 

expectancy around the world also brought new public 

health challenges, such as increasing incidence and 

prevalence of chronic, age-related disorders.3 

 In India, the second most populous country in 

the world, the proportion of those 60 years and older was 

5.4% in 1951, and it increased to 8.0% in 2010.4 Life 

expectancy at birth for males increased from 42 years 

(1951-1960) to 58 years (1986-1990).4 Life expectancy 

is projected to increase to 67 years for males and 69 years 

for females by the year 2016.5 Furthermore, the United 

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Nations indicated that 21.0% of the Indian population 

will be aged 60+ years by 2050.5 

Mental disorders in the elderly often go 

untreated due to the misperceptions that these disorders 

are a normal part of aging and a natural reaction to 

chronic illness, loss of family members, and social 

transition occurring with age.6 The burden of late-life 

psychiatric disorder on physical health, social support 

systems, and overall functioning is considerable, making 

mental disorders a leading cause of burden in elderly 

adults.7 Additionally, mental disorder is a preventable 

risk factor for mortality, particularly suicide attempts.8 

Western countries have conducted numerous 

studies on the resources, needs, and outcomes on the 

community-based care of the elderly, which helped in the 

estimation of public health burden of the geropsychiatric 

population.9-14 Few studies have been conducted in India 

on the extent of mental disorder burden in these geriatric 

age groups. Pathak14 noted that there have been few 

publications on the health problems of those aged 60 

years and above in India,15 while even fewer have 

examined the mental health of the elderly in India.16 The 

purpose of this article is to highlight the psychiatric 

problems faced by the elderly Indian population as well 

as develop strategies to improve the quality of life for the 

elderly.17 

 

Methods  

This cross-sectional, observational, community-

based study was conducted in the rural health training 

area of Singanodi, Raichur District, Karnataka, India.The 

Navodaya Medical College and Research Centre 

Institutional Ethical Review Board approval was 

obtained before commencing the study. Informed 

consent was obtained prior to study participation. 

Study Population 

We used the United Nations (UN) guideline of 

60+ years to refer to the elderly population.18 The area of 

Singanodi has a population of 25,486 with a geriatric 

population of approximately 2,500 residents. A sample 

size of 383 was estimated using the formula 4pq/L2 

(prevalence of 42%,19 allowable error 12% and 95% 

confidence). 

Of the 383 elderly participants, 17 persons could 

not be included in the study due to the individuals or their 

family members’ refusal to participate. Thus, a total of 

366 were included in the final sample. 

Procedures 

The team made twenty visits between January 

15 and April 15, 2014. A community medicine post-

graduate physician and 3 social workers visited the study 

area once or twice a week. Prior to the start of the study, 

the team members underwent training in the use of the 

screening devices and a degree of standardization was 

achieved. All interviewers were trained in the standard 

operating procedure of survey administration to avoid 

any information bias. 

Commencing from the eastern end of the town, 

a door-to-door survey was implemented. Residents of the 

houses were querried for the presence of any resident 

aged 60 years and above in the house. If due to some 

reason the potential participant was not available during 

first visit, he/she was contacted during the subsequent 

visit. Inclusion criteria for the study were: aged 60 years 

or above at the time of survey, a resident of the study area 

(Singanodi) for at least  one year prior to the start of the 

study or those staying for less than a year but intended to 

stay permanently. Individuals were excluded if they were 

guests or lived in the area for less than one year and did 

not intend to stay permanently.  

Measures 

Four survey instruments were utilized. First, the 

General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12)20,21 is a self-

administered screening test, which is the most commonly 

used screening instrument for detecting psychiatric 

disorders in community settings and non-psychiatric 

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clinical settings. A score of  ≥2 is the cut-off score for 

possible psychiatric disorder for this screening 

instrument.20 Second, the Mini-Mental State 

Examination (MMSE) is the most widely used cognitive 

screening instrument worldwide.22 It is commonly used 

to screen for dementia. Any score ≥27 points indicates a 

normal cognition. Below this, scores can indicate severe 

(<9 points), moderate (10-18 points) or mild (19-26 

points) cognitive impairment. The Hindi translation of 

MMSE that was suitably modified was used in this study, 

which has been validated in various studies.16-18 Third, 

the Geriatric Depression Scale-15, short version (GDS) 

is a 15 item self-report scale for assessing depression.23 

In this scale, scores of 0-9 are considered normal, 10-19 

indicated mild depression, and 20-30 indicated severe 

depression. Fourth, the Generalized Anxiety (GA) Scale 

was adapted from the CARE24 schedule as a subscale. 

Scores of 5-9 points is indicative of mild anxiety, and a 

score of 10 points or higher is indicative of major 

anxiety.19-21 

Data Analysis 

Descriptive statistics were used to gather basic 

participant characteristics as well as the prevalence of 

psychiatric disorders. Chi square analyses with a Yates 

correction were used to analyze age group differences for 

psychiatric disorder prevalence and to analyze gender 

differences for psychiatric disorder prevalence. All 

analyses were conducted using SPSS 19.0 software. 

 

Results  

There were 366 persons from 205 households 

aged 60 years and above in the surveyed population who 

agreed to participate in the study, with women 

comprising 53.6% of the sample. The distribution of 

participants in each age group was similar for both the 

sexes. Table 1 shows the distribution of the sample 

population according to age and gender.  

Table 1: Distribution of study population stratified by sex 

and age group 

 

The majority of participants were in 60-64 age 

group (42%). Table 2 shows the distribution of 

psychiatric disorder prevalence stratified by age, sex, and 

marital status.  

 

Table 2: Distribution of psychiatric disorder prevalence 

stratified by age, sex, and marital status 

 

Presence of psychiatric morbidity was defined 

as having screened positive for at least one of the 

following: cognitive decline, dementia, depression, or 

generalized anxiety. Participants in the age group 80+ 

screened positive for more psychiatric disorders as 

compared to younger age groups (X2 = 10.25, p < 0.05). 

Similarly, significantly more females were mentally ill as 

compared to males (X2 = 23.75, p < 0.001). Further, we 

observed that significantly more widowed participants 

have been affected by mental disorders compared to 

married participants (X2 = 25.17, p < 0.001). 

Prevalence of psychiatric disorders 

33.9% had scores ≥2 in GHQ-12, i.e. above the 

cut-off score for possible psychiatric disorder for this 

screening instrument and requiring further mental health 

evaluation (Table 3). 

 

Table 3: Participants who screened positive for 

psychiatric disorders stratified by age group 

 

Of these subjects, cognitive impairment was 

present in 60 participants (16.3%). Depression was 

present in 80 (21.9%) of the study participants. 

Generalized anxiety was present in 39 (10.66%) study 

participants. There was a significant effect of age on 

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having a diagnosable disorder based on the GHQ-12 

(p=0.03) and cognitive impairment based on he MMSE 

(p=0.03). However, there was no statistically significant 

effect of age on depression (p=0.82) and anxiety 

(p=0.87). 

 

Discussion 

This study demonstrated that the prevalence of 

mental disorder was 33.9% of the elderly population (60 

years and older). One previous study estimated that he 

prevalence of mental disorder in those 50 years and older 

was 34.9% in the area of Madras, India.25 Another study 

conducted in the UK estimated that the prevalence of 

mental disorder in those 65 years and older was 

46.0%.13,26 In our sample, the burden of mental disorder 

was higher in females, corroborating the findings of 

many studies conducted in India25,27-29 and western 

countries.30,31 

The most prevalent disorder amongst the elderly 

population, as reported by many field-surveys conducted 

in India and abroad, was depression. Depression was 

found in 16.4% of the population, which is similar to a 

13.3–18.3% prevalence reported in the literature.32,33 The 

prevalence rates in Indian studies have been widely 

varied, ranging from 6.0%to 55.2%.34 Banerjee and 

MacDonald13found that depression was prevalent in 

26.0% of their sample comprising persons aged 65 years 

and above. A significant finding of this study, which may 

have important implications for both social and 

psychological perspectives, is the high prevalence of 

psychiatric disorder amongst widowed people. Stressful 

factors such as isolation and low socioeconomic status 

are closely associated with widowhood.   

In the present study, 10.66 % of the persons had 

GAD, which is similar to the 4.6% prevalence rate 

reported by Ritchie et al.35 Most Indian researchers 

reported a low prevalence of anxiety disorders in the 

elderly population.25,34 

It is therefore evident that the mental health care 

needs of the elderly are multifaceted. A system that 

ensures a comprehensive health care needs to be 

developed for this purpose. We should not, however, lose 

sight of the fact that provision of health facilities does not 

necessarily ensure its adequate utilization.36,37 

Strengths and Limitations 

One limitation of this study is that all of the 

study participants were from one rural location instead of 

multiple sites. Future studies wanting to understand the 

impact of psychological disorders among the elderly in 

rural populations could focus on a multi-centric 

approach, using cohorts from multiple rural populations. 

Another limitation is that the data was gathered by self-

report methods, which might cause bias due to the fact 

that the study population is relatively small. Major 

strengths of this study are the inclusion of reliable 

screening questionnaires and standardization of 

interviewers to reduce bias. 

 

Conclusion 

There are many barriers to the utilization of 

health facilities by the community, with more barriers 

experienced by the elderly. Apart from their limited 

mobility, limited information access, and inadequate 

awareness of treatability of mental disorders, the elderly 

are likely to experience a lack of family support and 

social isolation. The basic philosophy of geriatric 

research is neither the prevention of old age nor a mere 

addition of years, but to “add life to years.” By assessing 

the social and familial risk factors of mental disorder 

among elderly persons residing in a rural community, 

community-based rehabilitation and suicide prevention 

programs could be developed. Raising awareness about 

mental disorders and its association with the geriatric age 

group may be an effective measure for the early detection 

and treatment of such disorders. 

 

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Table 1: Distribution of study population age and sex 

Age Group 
N (%) 

Male Female 

60 – 64  80 (47.0) 74 (37.7) 

65 – 69  52 (30.6) 58 (29.6) 

70 – 74  16 (9.4) 28 (14.3) 

75 – 79  10 (5.9) 18 (9.2) 

80+ 12 (7.1) 18 (9.2) 

Total 170 (100.0) 196 (100.0) 

 

  

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Table 2: Distribution of psychiatric disorder prevalence stratified by age, sex, and marital 

status 

Variable 
N (%) 

Normal Screen Positive Screen 

Age Group*   

     60 – 64  62 (44.9) 92 (40.4) 

     65 – 69  50 (36.2) 60 (26.3) 

     70 – 74  8 (5.8) 36 (15.8) 

     75 – 79  14 (10.2) 14 (6.1) 

     80+ 4 (2.9) 26 (11.4) 

Gender**   

     Male 98 (69.0) 72 (32.1) 

     Female 44 (31.0) 152 (67.9) 

Marital Status**   

     Married 106 (74.6) 82 (36.6) 

     Widowed 36 (25.4) 142 (63.4) 

Note. *indicates p < 0.05; ** indicates p < 0.001. Participants who scored above the threshold in at least one 

psychiatric disorder screening tool were counted as a “positive screen.” Participants who did not score above the 

threshold were counted as “normal.” 

  

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Table 3: Participants who screened positive for psychiatric disorders stratified by age group 

 Age Group N (%) 

 60 – 64 65 – 69 70 – 74 75 – 79 80+ Total 

GHQ-12 32 31 35 4 22 124 

MMSE 15 7 5 15 18 60 

GDS 27 15 11 13 14 80 

GA 18 7 4 3 7 39 

Note. GHQ-12 is the General Health Questionnaire-12. MMSE is the Mini-Mental Status Examination. GDS is the 

Geriatric Depression Scale. GA is the Generalized Anxiety Scale. 

 

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