Prevalence and risk factors for depressive symptoms among community-dwelling elders in Taiwan

Abstract

Introduction: Aging may best be defined as the survival of growing number of people who have completed the traditional adult roles of making a living and child bearing. Depression is common in the older adults and is a major public health problem. Reminiscence therapy considered an alternative intervention for treating depression in older adults. Objectives: To assess the level of depression among older adults in selected old age home. To determine the effectiveness of reminiscence therapy on the level of depression among older adults. To associate the level of depression among older adults with their selected demographic variables. Methodology: The research approach was used Experimental approach and design was one group Pre-test and Post-test design. Purposive sampling technique was used. Results: The findings of the study revealed that among 30 older adults in pre-test level of depression among older adults, 3(10%) had mild depression, 19(63.3%) had moderate depression and 8(26.7%) had severe depression. The post-test revealed that majority 19(63.3%) expressed mild depression, 9(30%) expressed moderate depression and 2(6.7%) expressed severe depression. It represents that reminiscence therapy sessions reduced the level of depression of older adults. Conclusion: The effectiveness of reminiscence therapy on depression among older adults using paired "t" test shows 7.4 significance at the level of p <0.01. Finally, it was concluded that reminiscence therapy sessions are effective in reducing the level of depression among older adults.

Marital Status and Risk for Late Life Depression: A Meta-Analysis of the Published Literature

“…After pooling these studies, widowed and never-married subjects were at a significantly higher risk for depression than married subjects (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.19, 1.87, P = 0.0006; OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.12, 1.55, P = 0.0007 respectively), and subjects who were divorced had a non-significantly higher risk for depression than those who were married (OR 1.23, 95% CI 0.57, 2.65). Of the 24 cross-sectional studies, two, five and two studies compared the risk for depression between widowed and divorced subjects, 31,41 between widowed and nevermarried subjects, 31,41,43,46,48 and between divorced and never-married subjects. 31,41 Pooling these studies, widowed subjects had a higher risk for depression than those who had never married (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.14, 1.98, P = 0.004).…”

Prevalence and risk factors for depressive symptoms among veterans home elders in Eastern Taiwan

“…The prevalence of depression in the elderly around the world is high (Katona and Livingston, 1997;Liu et al, 1997;Palsson and Skoog, 1997;Beekman et al, 1999;Chong et al, 2001;Tsai et al, 2005aTsai et al, , 2005b. A higher suicide rate has been reported in depressed elders than in non-depressed elders (Quan et al, 2002;Waern et al, 2003;Suominen et al, 2004).…”

Prevalence and Correlates of Depression among Nepalese Rai Older Adults

“…The WHO (2005) [1] also emphasizes that depression, which is the fourth most common illness, can lead to physical, emotional, social and economic problems. The prevalence rate of depression varies worldwide and their prevalence rates range between 10 and 55% [2][3][4][5][6]. Depression in late life is associated with significant morbidity, including deficits in a range of cognitive functions and considerable influence on functional impairment, disability [7], decreased quality of life, and has a negative effect on the body's recovery from illness, increases the rate of suicide, increases use of health care services and expenses [8][9][10], and can result in early death and disturbance in the general state of wellness [8,9].…”