Abstract

Objectives: This project assessed mental status of geriatric patients with chronic locomotor diseases and compared it with that of the control group.

Method: The experimental group comprised 60 geriatric outpatient clients (49 women and 11 men) afflicted with chronic locomotor diseases.They had been referred to Rehabilitation Outpatient Cli- nic of Shahid Faghihi Hospital in the city of Shiraz.Patients suspected of brain organic syndromes were removed from the study. Matched with the experimental group,the control group was com-posed of 60 normal geriatrics with no chronic locomotor diseases. SCL-90-R was used to evaluate the two groups.

Findings:SCL-90-R showed that the experimental group scored the highest in the following dimensions: Somatization, Paranoia, Depression, and Anxiety. There were significant differences across most scales between the experimental and control groups. Furthermore, the women’s scores in most scales were higher than the men’s. The outcome also indicated that there was not a significant difference across any of the scales throughout final decades of life.

Results: Health and mental status of geriatric patients with chronic locomotor diseases is poorer than that of the geriatrics with no such diseases.Psychological difficulties of women under study were more than the men. In view of the results of this project, it stands to reason that mental condition of these patients is considered in the formulation of treatment or rehabilitation services.