Catatonia in an inpatient gerontopsychiatric population

There are limited data on the prevalence of catatonia in the elderly. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of catatonia in elderly patients (=/> 65 years) acutely admitted to the psychiatric unit of a general hospital. All patients aged 65 years and above admitted to a general hospital psychiatric unit over a 4-month period were screened for catatonia with the 14-item Bush-Francis Catatonia Screening Instrument (BFCSI). Patients with a minimum of 2 symptoms on the BFCSI were rated with the 23-item Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale (BFCRS). Catatonia was simultaneously evaluated according to DSM-5 criteria. Clinical diagnoses were established using the validated Hungarian versions of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Disorders, the Mini Mental State Examination and the Clock Drawing Test. Ninety-eight (28.1%) of the 342 patients admitted to the psychiatric unit during the study period were above 65 years of age; 11 (11.22%) and 6 (6.12%) patients were classified as having catatonia according to the BFCRS and DSM-5 criteria, respectively. The majority of the patients had catatonia due to a medical condition. A significant minority of gerontopsychiatric inpatients present with catatonia. Dementia was not a risk factor for catatonia.