SANP Swiss Archives of Neurology, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy 2297-7007 2297-6981 EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG Farnsburgerstrasse 8 CH-4132 Muttenz 03265 10.4414/sanp.2022.03265 Review article Old age psychiatry Psychiatric disorders in late-life Ibach Bernd bernd.ibach@clienia.ch Head of Department | Old age psychiatry and privé | Hauptstrasse 130 | Littenheid | Switzerland | 9573 | SWITZERLAND | 0041-71-929-6660 07 12 2022 173 06 0 0 Copyright: EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG 2022 EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG "Swiss Archives of Neurology, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy" is an open access publication of EMH published in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons licence attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives 4.0 International. You are free to share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format under the following terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material. "Non-commercial" means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation. The incorporation of publications in commercial products, the use of publications to advertise for commercial products or services and any other usage that directly or indirectly pursues commercial interests is subject to the express previous consent of the publishing house as part of a written agreement. Please send us your request in writing. Exact indication of the publication from which you would like to reproduce material and detailed information about its intended use help to facilitate and expedite request processing.

Psychiatric disorders in the elderly population are common, with an estimated 12-month prevalence of around 25% (1). Many of them are unrecognized, mis- or untreated, and associated with poor health outcomes. The introduction of age sensitive criteria to diagnose psychiatric diseases, which is still in its infancy, will increase sensitivity to detect disorders in the aged, however on the costs of specificity. Keeping these challenges in mind, the so far available epidemiologic evidence has to be interpreted with some caution. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that the demographic trend will lead to a significant increase of psychiatric disease in old age in the upcoming decades. The aim of the present article is to describe the current prevalence of mental disorders in the elderly.