Mental health problems and treatment among older adults in Latin America and the Caribbean

We examined mental health problems and treatments among 7,427 older adults age 60-102 residing in two Caribbean and two Latin-American countries. The sample was predominantly female (56%), with an average age of 72 and 5 years of education. We found differences in gender and education levels among the countries and controlled for these factors in the analyses. We used data from the SABE (Survey on Health, Well-Being, and Aging in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2000). The analysis provides important information about the presence of mental health illness and availability of treatments in diverse cultures and health care delivery systems. Key findings suggest that there are significant differences (p< .001) in mental health indicators and treatment when comparing the four countries. Cuba had the highest proportion of reporting of emotional and psychiatric problems (20.1%), followed by Brazil (14.4%), Mexico (12.2%) and Barbados (3.6%). The highest psychiatric/psychological treatment rates were reported in Barbados and Cuba (46.3% and 43.6%) followed by Mexico and Brazil (27.9% and 26.6%). These country differences in mental health problems and treatment remained after controlling for sex and education differences. Further study is needed to explore these country differences in terms of cultural and infrastructure factors. These results demonstrate that less than half of those in need in these countries received any psychiatric/psychological treatment. This suggests that public health policy makers need to recognize that mental health diagnosis and treatment is an important area for program development.