The mental health of nursing home residents: a New Zealand study

With a growing elderly population, New Zealand, in common with many other countries, has experienced a growth in residential care for the elderly. This study is the first of its kind to examine the mental health of these residents in New Zealand. Using standardized diagnostic techniques, 87 randomly selected residents in Hamilton were interviewed to arrive at DSM-111-R diagnoses. Seventy percent of the sample had dementia, 17% a depressive disorder and 83% at least one psychiatric diagnosis. Seventy-nine percent were defined as cases on GMS-AGECAT. Fifty-nine percent of the sample were receiving psychotropic medication and 32% were prescribed a neuroleptic. Twenty-two percent of residents had seen a psychiatrist in the past year and 6% had seen one in the last month. Activity of daily living and behaviour scales demonstrated a high degree of dependency and problem behaviours in the residents. Ninety-one percent of them had at least one problem behaviour and 46% had four or more. These findings are similar to those in the USA and the UK. They highlight, again, the need for more psychiatric input into these facilities.