Abstract

Prevalence of depressive symptoms in older people of Amir-Kola city in 2012: results from AHAP study

Author(s):Farzan Kheirkhah, Elham Mohebbi Abiverdi, Gholamabbas Roustaei, Seyed Reza Hosseini, Angela Hamidia Sanaz Azad Forouz, Shaqayeq Sharifian, Ali Bijani

Depression is one of the most common disorders in the elderly. The problem in the elderly remains largely obscured and left untreated though leads to exacerbation of the disorder. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms in the elderly population of Amir-Kola city in 2012. 1600 elderly individuals living in Amir- Kola city were entered in the cross-sectional study. Information such as age, sex, duration of disease, marital status, income, etc. was acquired. Depressive symptoms was obtained with a 15-items Geriatric Depression Scale questionnaire. The effects of risk factors on the prevalence of depressive symptoms were evaluated statistically with chi-square test and Logistic regression analysis. 905 participants (56.6%) had normal condition, and 695 participants (43.4%) had some symptoms of depression. Of these, 437 (27.3%) had mild depression, 177 (11.1%) moderate depression and 81 (5.1%) showed symptoms of severe depression. Variables, female sex (p<0.0001), diabetes (p<0.004), lack of common life with spouse (p<0.002) and having cognitive impairment (p<0.0001) significantly affects the prevalence of depression.

• PDF