Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Feb 19, 2022; 12(2): 348-367
Published online Feb 19, 2022. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v12.i2.348
Catatonia in older adults: A systematic review
Walter Jaimes-Albornoz, Angel Ruiz de Pellon-Santamaria, Ayar Nizama-Vía, Marco Isetta, Ines Albajar, Jordi Serra-Mestres
Walter Jaimes-Albornoz, Angel Ruiz de Pellon-Santamaria, Psychiatry Service, Hospital Universitario Donostia, Basque Health Service - Osakidetza, San Sebastian 20014, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Ayar Nizama-Vía, Psychiatry Service “Virgen del Cisne” Mental Health Community Center, Regional Health Directorate, Tumbes 24002, Peru
Marco Isetta, Library and Knowledge Services, Central & North West London NHS Foundation Trust, St Charles’ Hospital, London W10 6DZ, United Kingdom
Ines Albajar, Neurology Service, Hospital Universitario Donostia, Basque Health Service - Osakidetza, San Sebastian 20014, Gipuzkoa, Spain
Jordi Serra-Mestres, Old Age Psychiatry Service, Cardinal Clinic, Windsor SL4 5UL, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Jaimes-Albornoz W and Serra-Mestres J designed this study and completed article screening, data extraction, analysis and interpretation as well as manuscript preparation; Isetta M prepared and wrote the methods section, acquired data and performed initial screening; Ruiz de Pellon-Santamaria A, Nizama-Vía A and Albajar I completed additional data extraction, analysis and interpretation and prepared and wrote manuscript subsections; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Walter Jaimes-Albornoz, MD, Consultant Physician-Scientist, Psychiatry Service, Hospital Universitario Donostia, Basque Health Service - Osakidetza, Paseo del Dr. Begiristain 109, San Sebastian 20014, Gipuzkoa, Spain. walter.jaimesalbornoz@osakidetza.eus
Received: May 30, 2021
Peer-review started: May 30, 2021
First decision: July 14, 2021
Revised: July 27, 2021
Accepted: January 20, 2022
Article in press: January 20, 2022
Published online: February 19, 2022
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Catatonia in older people is an underrecognized and undertreated systemic medical syndrome despite having specific treatment that has shown great effectiveness. These patients are at increased susceptibility of developing potentially life-threatening complications.

Research motivation

Systematic reviews on this topic have not been conducted. Similar previous reviews were not systematic, and since their publication, the number of papers in this regard has practically doubled. We considered that an update was necessary.

Research objectives

This review aimed to synthesize all the published literature related to catatonia in older patients. This summary will provide up-to-date knowledge about this condition.

Research methods

A comprehensive systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA recom-mendations. An extensive search strategy was developed, and the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO databases were searched. Screening was completed in duplicate. Papers that investigated issues related to catatonia and/or catatonic symptoms in older people with an English abstract available were included. Additionally, we provided all the clinical correlates of our series of catatonia in a psychogeriatric ward.

Research results

In total, 173 articles were considered in this systematic review. Most of them were case reports and case series (143), and only 11 were prospective cohort studies. Catatonia in older people is highly prevalent, and in most cases, its etiology is multifactorial. Neurological disorders could play a very important role in catatonia development; in part, cardiovascular risk factors could explain this association. BZDs and ECT are very effective and well tolerated treatments.

Research conclusions

This systematic review provides a comprehensive summary of catatonia in older people. These patients have a higher risk of developing catatonia than younger patients with BD in the general hospital and secondary to BZD withdrawal. Age is related, within other risk factors, to poor NMS prognosis and the development of complications.

Research perspectives

The current review revealed that the number and quality of studies on this issue are scarce. Given the high morbidity of catatonia in older people, prompt identification and treatment are essential. Thus, further prospective research is warranted to more accurately identify all the clinical aspects of catatonia in older people.