Older people had high admission rates to hospitals for the insane in New South Wales, Australia, in the second half of the nineteenth century. The medical casebooks of 226 patients aged 60 years and over admitted to two hospitals for the insane between 1849 and 1905 were examined. Aggressive behaviour (35.4%), suicidal behaviour (23.9%), fears of harm to self (19.9%) and alcohol issues (13.7%) were identified. Physical health factors (35.8%), functional impairment (18.6%) and poor nourishment (8.8%) were noted. Common diagnoses were mania (36.7%), dementia (31.9%) and melancholia (17.7%). Twenty-first-century diagnoses were assigned in nearly 94 per cent of cases with concordance that varied by diagnosis. The majority of admissions had serious mental disorders, with only 29.6 per cent being discharged.

19 世纪下半叶，在澳大利亚新南威尔士州，老年人住院治疗精神病人的比率很高。对 1849 年至 1905 年间因精神病入院的 226 名 60 岁及以上患者的医疗病例簿进行了检查。确定了攻击性行为 (35.4%)、自杀行为 (23.9%)、害怕伤害自己 (19.9%) 和酒精问题 (13.7%)。注意到身体健康因素 (35.8%)、功能障碍 (18.6%) 和营养不良 (8.8%)。常见诊断为躁狂症（36.7%）、痴呆症（31.9%）和忧郁症（17.7%）。近 94% 的病例属于 21 世纪的诊断，其一致性因诊断而异。大多数入院者患有严重的精神障碍，只有 29.6% 的人出院。