The prevalence of psychotic symptoms and paranoid ideation in non‐demented population samples aged 70–82 years

Objectives Recent population Q3 studies have reported an approximate 10% prevalence of psychotic symptoms among elderly aged 85 years and older. Psychotic symptoms may be less prevalent among younger elderly. We examined the prevalence of psychotic symptoms in a population‐based sample of non‐demented elderly aged 70–82 years. Methods A systematic Swedish population sample of 894 non‐demented elderly (response rate 68%) representing three birth cohorts (340 women and 224 men aged 70 years and 330 women aged 78 and 82 years) was examined using the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale (CPRS), during a semi‐structured psychiatric interview. A key informant interview was also conducted. Psychotic symptoms were classified according to the DSM‐IV Glossary of technical terms . Results The 1‐year prevalence of any psychotic symptom was 0.9% among non‐demented women and men aged 70 years, and 1.2% among women aged 78 and 82 years. Psychotic symptoms were not related to sex or age. The prevalence of paranoid ideation was 1.0%. Among women, any paranoid symptom (persecutory delusions or paranoid ideation) was more common in 70‐year‐olds (2.6%) than in 78–82‐year‐olds (0.6%) ( p  = 0.04). Conclusions Psychotic symptoms affected only 1% of this non‐demented population aged 70, 78 and 82 years, which is lower than the 7–10% previously found among 85‐ and 95‐year‐olds. This might reflect a lower prevalence of psychotic symptoms compared to older elderly or secular changes resulting in lower prevalence of psychotic symptoms in later‐born birth cohorts. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.