“Oldest Old” Attending Psychiatric Emergency Services: A Monocentric Retrospective Study

Abstract

“Oldest old”, although increasingly numerous, remain insufficiently described in mental health services. By studying those who visit the busiest Psychiatric Emergency Services (PES) in France, our primary objective was to describe the “oldest old” seeking psychiatric care and, secondly, to identify predictive factors of hospitalization. We chose a cut-off age of 80 years and recruited all patients who visited our monocentric PES over a five-year period between 2018 and 2022. This retrospective observational study relied on clinical assessments and medical records. A total of 306 visits from 274 distinct patients were analyzed. Patients were mostly women, living alone at home, with a psychiatric history and using psychotropic medications. The majority were diagnosed with mood disorders and did not appear to have cognitive impairment. Patients were primarily referred to either inpatient or outpatient psychiatric care. These results enhance our understanding of the psychiatric needs of the “oldest-old”.