[Demonstrability of mental disorders in late middle and old age]

Clinical-epidemiological screening of the registered psychiatric patients over 60 years and more and of representative random age-matched groups of the overall population has permitted attaining a maximum complete picture of mental health in old individuals living within a limited area of an industrial city. The data obtained have made it possible to determine the registered, non-registered and actual morbidity prevalence of the population studied. Thus, the author has identified the characteristics of screening, i.e., the registration of mental patients of old age by agencies of mental services in relation to their sex, age and the nature of the disorder and some social and environmental factors.