PS12. Screening novel compounds for behavioural effects: repurposing epigenetic drugs for psychiatry

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the associations between physical diseases and prevalent / incident anxiety in a community dwelling older population aged 65 years or over. Methods: 1204 people aged 65 years or over evaluated at baseline, and 909 (75.4%) were followed two years later. Anxiety was identified at both evaluation points using the questions from the community version of the Geriatric Mental State Schedule together with diagnostic algorithm, the Automated Geriatric Examination for Computer Assisted Taxonomy. Reported physical diseases covering 11 common and generally chronic health problems were ascertained. Covariates included were age, gender, education, living area, accommodation status, past occupation, current occupation and marital status. Results: In multivariate analyses, prevalent anxiety was independently associated with 9 of 11 physical diseases (arthritis or rheumatism, eyesight problems, hearing difficulty, persistent cough, asthma, hypertension, heart disease, gastrointestinal problems, and unilateral paralysis or weakness); and incident anxiety was independently associated with 2 physical diseases (arthritis or rheumatism and heart disease). Both prevalent and incident anxiety were significantly associated with increased number of physical diseases. Conclusion: Certain physical diseases were identified as risk and/or precipitating factors for anxiety in elders. Appropriate intervention and treatment of physical diseases might mitigate the morbidity of anxiety in late-life.