Prevalence of Depression in an Urban Geriatric Population in Marathwada Region of Western India

Abstract

Background: Depression is a common problem in the elderly but is often undetected and ignored as a medical problem, leading to poor quality of life. This community-based study was conducted to know the burden and risk factors of depression among the elderly. Subjects and Methods: The survey was done in 2015 in Maharashtra, India as a part of an initiative addressing community mental health needs of the elderly. Total 400 elderly, aged 60 years and above, were selected through a house-to-house survey, using probability proportional to size method, and interviewed for depression using Major Depression Inventory Scale (MDI Scale), and other potential risk factors using a pretested questionnaire. Results: A total of 16.75% elderly had depression. Increasing age (Spearman's rho = 0.112, P = 0.026), illiteracy (OR = 2.23; 95% confidence interval, CI 1.22–4.07), lack of sleep (OR = 2.97; 95% CI 1.73–5.09), and leisure time spending alone (OR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.34–0.98) were found to be associated with depression. However, on multivariate analysis, only sleep duration <6 h was found to be associated [AOR = 2.6; 95% CI 1.4–4.6]. Conclusions: There is a considerable burden of depression in the elderly, reemphasizing the need for regular screening for this disorder and its risk factors.

Screening of Depression in Elderly Population Using a Geriatric Depression Scale in the Field Practice Area of Urban Health Training Centre Attached to SMS Medical College, Jaipur

“…Advancing age is often accompanied by various events in life such as the death of a spouse, retirement, financial dependence, etc. Similar findings were observed by certain other studies [ 1 , 10 , 14 ]. However, Kavithai et al reported in their study that depression was more common among those aged below 80 years [ 17 ].…”

“…Aging being a normal multidimensional process is associated with physical, social, and psychological changes [ 1 ]. The four areas where the impact is being felt the most are health, economy, social and political, due to an aging population.…”

Associates of prevalence of depression among urban elderly of Kendujhar district: a study in Odisha, India

“…15 The result obtained in the study were similar with the study done by Buvneshkumar et al and other. [16][17][18] Similar findings were observed that depression was associated with increasing age, female gender, no formal education and lower educational status. 6,19,20 This may be said that as age increases physical competencies slower down consequently higher morbidities make them alienated from doing physical and other activity and they become more dependent on others for their daily needs, this in turn contribute to psychological depression.…”

“…The prevalence of depression among older adults in our study congruents with the study of Sangma et al and others. 15,17,21…”

A Critical Look at the Methodology of Epidemiological Studies

“…Rathod et al [7] evaluated the prevalence of depression among the elderly population in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra. They had estimated the required sample size, used systematic random sampling, and screened the elderly persons using a translated version of Major Depression Inventory (MDI).…”