The relationship between age, gender and psychological distress in rehabilitation inpatients

Although commonly accepted as the dominant emotional reaction to functional loss, the reported occurrence of depression in rehabilitation patients varies widely. Rather than focusing solely on depressive symptoms, this study furthers our understanding of emotional distress following a functional loss by assessing a range of psychiatric symptoms. A series of rehabilitation patients admitted to an urban hospital inpatient unit is used as the sample (n = 48). Demographic, neuropsychological, and a functional independence measure were included as independent variables. The statistical analysis revealed that-although age was not correlated with years of education, functional status, or neuropsychological impairment-there was a significant inverse relationship between age and reported emotional distress. Utilizing MANCOVA to explore the impact of age and gender on specific groups of psychiatric symptoms revealed that both younger and male patients tended to express psychiatric symptoms more frequently. The importance of considering age and gender in evaluation of emotional distress in rehabilitation is supported in this comprehensive study of psychiatric symptoms.