Anxiety Symptoms in Older Home Health Care Recipients: Prevalence and Associates

This study examined the prevalence and associates of anxiety symptoms in older home health care recipients (N = 249) who completed structured interviews assessing sociodemographic, cognitive, medical and disability, and psychosocial variables—including anxiety (assessed by the Clinical Anxiety Scale). Mild or moderate anxiety was reported by 3.6% of the sample. No anxiety symptoms whatsoever were reported by 63.9%, while the remaining endorsed at least one symptom. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the odds of having any anxiety were elevated among participants who had had a recent fall, OR = 2.81, 95% CI [1.46, 5.43]; and those with major depression, OR = 4.78, 95% CI [1.46, 15.68]. These findings point to the importance of conducting studies to clarify whether the mild severity of anxiety found in this sample is best accounted for by protective factors inherent to the home health care setting or assessment factors that diminish the reporting of anxiety symptoms.