Aide helping resident

Having needs for assistance with activities of daily living that are unmet can increase the risk of the onset of anxiety symptoms in older adults, and elevated anxiety symptoms can increase the risk that ADL needs will be unmet, creating “a vicious cycle that may lower the quality of life of older adults,” according to one of the authors of a study recently published in the Journal of Aging and Health.

“Our findings reinforce the notion that needs for mental health services and community-based long-term services and supports are interconnected,” said Xiaoling Xiang, Ph.D., MSW, the study’s co-author and an assistant professor of social work at the University of Michigan.

Looking at a sample of 3,936 Medicare beneficiaries via data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study collected from 2011 to 2016, Xiang and a colleague tracked the behavior of older adults whose needs were not being met. They found that 20% of the older adults with ADL needs reported anxiety symptoms. Of them, 44% reported anxiety when their personal care needs were not met, 39% reported anxiety when their mobility needs were not met, and 36% reported anxiety when their needs for help with household activities were not met.

Doctors and other caregivers working with older adults might consider screening for anxiety and other mental health symptoms and can factor the older adult’s mental health system into plans for long-term services and supports, the authors said. Programs that better support family caregivers also may reduce anxiety symptoms in older adults, they said.