Geriatric psychiatry and fellowship programs in the United States

Psychiatric disorders are extremely common in the elderly and are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. For example, 8% to 15% of the geriatric population has clinically significant symptoms of depression (NIH Consensus Conference, 1992). Elderly Americans commit suicide at a rate twice the national average (National Strategy for Suicide Prevention, 2007). Ten to 15% of elderly community residents have Alzheimer's disease (AD) or other dementias (Evans et al., 1989). AD is the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States (Centers for Disease Control 2006).