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Epidemiology of Social Phobia in Later Life

From the Health Systems Research and Consulting Unit (JC, SV), Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Departments of Psychiatry and Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto; Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, Department of Psychiatry (LM), University of Toronto; the Department of Public Health Sciences (LMC), University of Toronto; Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care, Department of Psychiatry (DS), University of Toronto; and Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, Department of Psychiatry (NH), University of Toronto.

Objective: Although anxiety disorders, including social phobia (SP), are common among older adults, very little is known about the epidemiology of SP in later life.

Method: Using data drawn from a large, nationally representative sample of older adults from Canada (N = 12,792), the authors estimate lifetime and 12-month prevalence of social phobia and examine demographic predictors and patterns of comorbidity of current SP in this population.

Results: The results reveal that SP is a prevalent disorder in later life with lifetime and 12-month prevalence estimates of 4.94% and 1.32%, respectively. Current SP (12-month) declines with age and is more common in individuals with other psychiatric disorders. Interestingly, there is no correlation between current SP and gender, marital status, or socioeconomic status.

Conclusions: SP remains a highly prevalent disorder even in late life with the pattern of feared/avoided situations being strikingly similar to that of younger populations.

Key Words: Social phobia • epidemiology • older adults

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