A Study of Psychiatric Morbidity of the Elderly Population of a Rural Community in West Bengal

A door to door field-survey was conducted in two villages by a team of psychiatrists with the aim of assessing the mental morbidity of the population. The present communication is restricted to the mental morbidity of the elderly population aged 60 years and above. The total sample comprised 183 persons (male 85, female 98). Majority of the families (44.2%) belonged to class IV according to Pareek and Trivedi's scale. Sixty one percent of the elderly population was mentally ill. Women had a higher rate of morbidity than men (77.6% and 42.4% repetitively). The overwhelming majority of the affected persons were depressives. Rate of dementia was low.