Anxiety in old age and dementia - implications for clinical and research practice

While extensive research has been performed in relation to anxiety in general, there is a marked paucity of investigation on older adulthood, especially in relation to those individuals living with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia, with the majority of such studies clinically based and focusing upon ‘formal’ anxiety disorders. It is however becoming increasingly evident that the detrimental effects of anxiety are not limited to clinical anxiety disorders but can instead occur in response to anxiety per se, i.e., sub-syndromal anxiety including various levels of trait and state anxiety. Furthermore, it is increasingly apparent that even non-clinical anxiety can influence many more components of information processing than previously recognized.