Prevalence and predictors of depression and anxiety among the elderly population living in geriatric homes in Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Depression and/or anxiety were found in more than 80% of the studied group. An older age, female sex, insufficient income, a lower social class, a partially independent functional status, the presence of comorbidities, more frequent loneliness feeling and being married or divorced were found to be significant predictors for these problems. This study reflects the need for the screening of the elderly in geriatric homes for depression and/or anxiety, especially among high-risk groups, and developing interventions to prevent and control such problems.

An Arabic Version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (30 Items): Psychometric Properties and Some Findings in a Lebanese Elderly Sample

“…The current study found a negative correlation between depressive symptoms and the single status, in line with 2 studies from China and Taiwan [44, 45] that found that support from children protects widowed parents from the adverse effects of spousal death. Our results are in contrast to Ahmed et al [36], who found no association between the marital status and depression, and to Mohamed and Abd-Elhamed [13], who showed that a separated marital status was associated with geriatric depression in both sexes. These discrepancies may be due to cultural differences between Lebanon and other countries and by several other factors that were taken into account in this study.…”

“…The presence of depressive symptoms was found to be significantly related to the gender, with females having a significantly higher mean GDS score as compared to men, in line with the results of Mohamed and Abd-Elhamed [13], Ahmed et al [36], and Shehatah et al [43]. This can be explained by the fact that elderly women are more likely to be living alone, have a lower level of education, more financial difficulties, and limited social support, in addition to suffering from more chronic diseases.…”

“…Furthermore, this combination in elderly patients is a true fact with very strong association between them as detected by Brenes et al [17], Rahman [35] and Ahmed et al [36]. In addition, living in a nursing home will aggravate depressive symptoms further as shown in our results and those of Ahmed et al [36]. A dose-response relationship between cumulative life event stress and change in depressive symptoms was also shown [37]; the more the total number of stressful life events, the higher the depression score.…”

“…In fact, the co-occurrence of anxiety and depression in elderly patients is strongly associated with symptomatic overlap and frequent progression of anxiety to depression over time [34]. Furthermore, this combination in elderly patients is a true fact with very strong association between them as detected by Brenes et al [17], Rahman [35] and Ahmed et al [36]. In addition, living in a nursing home will aggravate depressive symptoms further as shown in our results and those of Ahmed et al [36].…”

Depression Prevalence and Underlying Risk Factors in the Elderly of Hamadan, Iran

“…Results of a study from Cairo also showed that a lower social class, insufficient income, partial independence and feelings of loneliness are significant predictors for depression (12). Although we did not find any significant relationship between depression and marriage status, other results indicate that, divorced, separated or widowed individuals are more depressed than the others who live with their spouses (5,13,14).…”