A Study on the Prevalence of Depression and its Associated Factors among the Elderly in Kancheepuram District, South India

Abstract

Background: The proportion of the elderly persons is increasing, most of the people lives in rural areas and depression among the elderly impairs the functioning in daily life. As people age, they experience multiple chronic health problems. Health problems when compounded with depression, worsens the clinical outcome still further. Objectives:To assess the prevalence of depression and its associated factors among the elderly. Materials and methods: This is a part of a larger study, conducted as a community based cross sectional study on nutrition and health status of the elderly.Data was collected on an interview schedule in the local language among 496 the elderly persons (60 years and above) selected by multi stage sampling technique from Kancheepuram District in Tamil Nadu using semi -structured questionnaire. Nutritional assessment done using Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) scale, hemoglobin estimation by Cyano-methemoglobin method and depression scaleusing Geriatric Depression Scale -Short Form (15 questions).Results:Nearly half (47.8%) of the elderly were depressed. It was found that depression is high in labourers, poorly educated, females, those living alone, without their spouse, financially dependent and lower socio economic status and with co -morbidities, anemia and malnutrition. Multi variateanalysis revealed a significant association of depressionin the elderlywith lower socio economic status (OR = 1.97), those not living with their spouse (OR= 4.5), who were malnourished or at risk of malnutrition (OR = 5.8) and who had co-morbidities including anemia and Malnutrition (OR = 1.79). Conclusion: There is an urgent need to address depression among the elderly. Mental health services to the elderly should be incorporated in the screening services rendered in primary health care settings for a proper care and support to improve their quality of life.

Depression and Its Predictors Among Elderly Population in an Urban Community in Puducherry

“…(8,9,15) We observed that depression was associated more with female gender and widowed status. Similar findings were reported from studies in India (17,18,19) and abroad. (20) The findings highlight the fact that elderly women need special attention.…”

Depression and religiosity among urban elderly population of western Uttar Pradesh, India

“…Pushparani et al, in their study among the elderly in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu observed that 33.9% had mild and 13.8% had severe depression. 7 These findings are similar to our study where mild depression is more in study population than severe depression. In the current study, the proportion of female respondents with mild (38.1%) and severe (17.3%) depressive symptoms was more than the percentage of male respondents (31.6% &13.9% respectively).…”

“…Pushparani et al, in their study among the elderly in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu, Ravindra et al in elderly population of urban Bangalore and D'Souza et al found the prevalence of depression to be 47.8%,44.8% and 51.9% respectively. [7][8][9] The results of these studies are in consonance to our study. However, Mandolikar et al conducted a study in urban area of Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka and found the prevalence of depression among the elderly to be 75.5%.…”

Active and healthy: a ten year group history designed to support relapse prevention for older people suffering with anxiety and/or depression

“…It is also associated with greater role-function impairments, poor self-care and isolation decreased the ability to follow lifestyle recommendations, thus hindering the treatment of other medical conditions. Pushparni et al (2017) note the correlation between worsening outcomes for the treatment of older people with comorbid health issues when depression is present. In their study of nearly 500 older adults, 47% of those people were assessed as being depressed.…”