The changing age-structure in Sweden and its impact on mental illness

摘要

In Sweden, as in other developed countries, the increased expectation of life has led to a growing preponderance of the older age-groups. The need for a thorough study of the effect of this new situation on the general health level of the population is evident, but material for such a study is still largely lacking. The article below discusses the difficulties of investigating the situation in the field of mental illness, and describes an enquiry into the senile psychoses in Stockholm. No sign was discerned of a trend towards an increasing morbidity-risk for senile psychosis in the different age-groups, the increasing number of admissions to hospitals being due to other, mainly social and economic, causes. This finding is of interest in the light of the cautious conclusion reached in Sweden that the increased economic burden created by the growing number of old persons can largely be offset by an increase in the relative number of able-bodied persons in the higher age-groups.