TY  -  JOUR
AU  -  Maina, Giuseppe
AU  -  Aragno, Elena
T1  -  Late-life psychosis in women and men
PY  -  2019
Y1  -  2019-05-01
DO  -  10.1723/3188.31667
JO  -  The Italian Journal of Gender-Specific Medicine
JA  -  Ital J Gender-Specific Med
VL  -  5
IS  -  2
SP  -  82
EP  -  89
PB  -  Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore
SN  -  2612-3487
Y2  -  2026/04/30
UR  -  http://dx.doi.org/10.1723/3188.31667
N2  -  Summary. Psychosis is a psychopathological condition characterized by a loss of contact with reality, pervasive thought and perception disorders and social and occupational function impairment. Although psychosis typically presents in the juvenile age, senile psychosis, i.e. with clinical presentations over the age of sixty-five, deserves special consideration, given its many different causes and diverse clinical expressions. It is estimated that the prevalence of psychotic disorders in the elderly population varies between 0.2% and 4.7% and reaches 10-63% amongst elderly patients who are hospitalized, especially in intensive care settings. It is more common in the female population and although the cause of this greater vulnerability is not known, it is thought that it may be associated with a higher concentration of dopamine receptors in the brain, as well as with the action of female sex hormones. Despite its high prevalence, senile psychosis remains a diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma. Firstly, a distinction must be made between very late-onset psychosis and that with an earlier onset that persists into old age. Secondly, a thorough differential diagnosis is essential: senile psychosis is defined as primary if the cause is a mental disorder and secondary if it is caused by a medical condition. In 60% of cases, very senile psychosis is secondary to neurological disorders, metabolic and endocrine disorders, infections, autoimmune diseases, or drugs/medicinal products. Psychosis can present in many different ways in the elderly and as the different disorders respond to different treatments, a scrupulous clinical analysis is of paramount importance.
ER  -