scholarly journals Prevalence and correlates of geriatric depression in a rural community in Kerala, India

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (Special2) ◽  
pp. 395-401
Author(s):  
Ann Mary Thomas ◽  
Babita Susan ◽  
Jacob Davies Kalliath ◽  
Vinu Cherian ◽  
Brilly M Rose ◽  
...  

Background: Elderly constitutes a vulnerable group for depression, as they are especially prone to suffer adverse consequences of a depressive episode and have greater rates of completed suicides. This study aims to estimate the prevalence and determinants of geriatric depression.  Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among 250 elderlies from 1st January 2019 to 1st January 2020 in the different rural blocks of Ernakulam district, India. The multistage sampling technique and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-30) were used to collect the data. A score of 0 9 is considered "normal", 10 19 is labeled as "mildly depressed", and 20 30 as "severely depressed". Statistical analysis was performed using the IBM SPSS software. The Chi-square test /Fisher's exact test was used to study the association between the socio-demographic and behavioral variables with depression. Results: The mean age was 69.33 ± 7.41years and male: female ratio was 0.55: 1.The overall prevalence of depression was 52.4%. Advanced age over 70years [OR=2.04;95% CI, 1.227 – 3.394; P=0.006], female gender[OR=2.844;95% CI,1.663-4.865; P =<0.001], lack of gainful employment [OR=3.504; 95% CI, 1.833–6.699; P =<0.001], physical dependence [OR=0.365;95% CI,0.162–0.821; P =0.012], financial dependence [OR=0.388; 95% CI, 0.219–0.687; P =<0.001], presence of medical co morbidities [OR=0.428; 95% CI, 0.212–0.866; P =0.016],poor lifestyle including the lack of regular exercise [OR =2.020; 95% CI,1.174–3.473; P =0.010], addiction to alcohol [OR=4.932;95%CI,1.600-15.208; P =0.004] and addiction to tobacco smoking [OR=2.905;95%CI,1.273-6.628; P =0.009] and poor family support [OR= 5.180;95% CI,716–15.636; P = 0.002] were found to be significantly associated with depression. Conclusion: The prevalence of depression among the elderlies was high, and hence early diagnosis and prompt treatment are essential to reduce its burden in the community.

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 368-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Lopes Nogueira ◽  
Leonardo Librelotto Rubin ◽  
Sara de Souza Giacobbo ◽  
Irenio Gomes ◽  
Alfredo Cataldo Neto

OBJECTIVE To analyze the prevalence of depression in older adults and associated factors. METHODS Cross-sectional study using a stratified random sample of 621 individuals aged ≥ 60 from 27 family health teams in Porto Alegre, RS, Southern Brazil, between 2010 and 2012. Community health agents measured depression using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale. Scores of ≥ 6 were considered as depression and between 11 and 15 as severe depression. Poisson regression was used to search for independent associations of sociodemographic and self-perceived health with both depression and its severity. RESULTS The prevalence of depression was 30.6% and was significantly higher in women (35.9% women versus 20.9% men, p < 0.001). The variables independently associated with depression were: female gender (PR = 1.4, 95%CI 1.1;1.8); low education, especially illiteracy (PR = 1.8, 95%CI 1.2;2 6); regular self-rated health (OR = 2.2, 95%CI 1.6;3.0); and poor/very poor self-rated health (PR = 4.0, 95%CI 2.9;5.5). Except for education, the strength of association of these factors increases significantly in severe depression. CONCLUSIONS A high prevalence of depression was observed in the evaluations conducted by community health agents, professionals who are not highly specialized. The findings identified using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale in this way are similar to those in the literature, with depression more associated with low education, female gender and worse self-rated health. From a primary health care strategic point of view, the findings become still more relevant, indicating that community health agents could play an important role in identifying depression in older adults.


Author(s):  
Manissha Srivastav ◽  
Yogita Bavaskar ◽  
Ravindra Choudhary ◽  
S. Agrawal

Background: Lifespan have increased worldwide. Increasing lifespan has brought in its wake, a host of non-communicable diseases. Worldwide, depression affects more women than men and it is also one of the morbidities amenable to treatment. Due to numerous socio-economic and cultural reasons, geriatric women in India bear the brunt of depressive ailments. Coupled with the lack of economic independence and gender disparity, this affliction and the affected both have remained in the shadows. The objective of the study was to assess the prevalence of depression and to study the association between some determinants of depression among geriatric women.Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted among geriatric women in an urban slum area. 336 women were included in the study. Mental health status in geriatric sample was studied by using 30 point geriatric depression scale. Results: Out of 336 total subjects, 171 (50.89%) were suffering from depression out of which 88 (26.19%) were showing mild depression and 83 (24.70%) were suffering from major depression. Marital status, unemployed status, economic dependency, lack of regular exercise, presence of addictions was found to be the risk factors for the depression. Conclusions: There was a high prevalence of depression in elderly women therefore Geriatric counseling and screening centers are to be established at health care institutes. 


Author(s):  
Pamagal Kavithai ◽  
Anandaraj R. ◽  
Buvaneswary S. ◽  
Prakash M.

Background: Depression among elderly has been a neglected health issue. Various factors hinder its early diagnosis. The objectives of this study are to screen for depression among elderly using geriatric depression scale-15 and to determine its influencing factors.Methods: A community based cross sectional study on geriatric depression was done in villages catered by a primary health centre in Puducherry. Permanent residents of the study setting, aged ≥60 years consenting for the study were included. Line listing of elderly individuals in the study setting was done and subjects were selected by simple random sampling. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic and clinic-psychological variables. Hindi mental state examination scale was used to screen for cognitive impairment (score <23). Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) was used to screen for depression (score >5) among geriatric individuals. Appropriate statistical tests of significance were done.Results: Among the 360 elderly individuals screened using GDS-15 tool, 41.4% of them were found to be at a higher risk of developing depression. Significant factors for risk of depression in univariate analysis include being female, illiterate, unemployed, widow/single, having sleep problems, dependency in activities of daily living and cognitive impairment. Predictors for risk of depression evident by multivariate analysis include presence of unemployment, sleep problems and cognitive impairment.Conclusions: A higher proportion of elderly was observed to be at risk of depression.  Primary care physicians may consider screening for depression in elderly with identified risk factors and act accordingly.


Author(s):  
Nirmal S. Raveendran ◽  
Abinaya Ravi ◽  
Rock Britto ◽  
Saranya Sankar ◽  
Sharathkumar Ramachandran ◽  
...  

Background: Depression at any age needs attention. Geriatric population being most vulnerable, are more prone to many morbidities, physically and mentally. Geriatric depression is one among them which needs prompt attention. The objectives of the present study were to estimate the prevalence of geriatric depression and association of depression with various sociodemographic factors.Methods: A cross sectional study carried out among 300 geriatric subjects. A structured interview schedule was used to collect data.Results: The prevalence of depression was found to be 44.4%. Female gender, marital status, family type was found to be positively associated with depression.Conclusions: Geriatric depression in our study is found to be on little higher side. Lifestyle modifications and support from family members are needed to improve the quality of life of these people. 


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cássia Rossetto Verga ◽  
Graciela Ishibashi ◽  
Guilherme da Silva ◽  
Tiago Ordonez ◽  
Gabriela dos Santos ◽  
...  

Background: Literature data emphasize that the recent spread of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has triggered several mental health issues such as depression and anxiety disorders. Fear of the illness and social distancing have shown to be risk factors for mood disorders. It is thus necessary to study the relation between mood disorders in older adults during the pandemic. Objective: Analyze the relation between mood disorders and COVID-19 in older adults within the pandemic framework. Methods: Cross-sectional study with the application of the following tools: Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS15) and Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI). Results: 428 older adults with an average age of 67.54±5.65 years were evaluated. Most of them were married females with an education level of 14.72±3.54 years and only 10% of them had fallen ill to COVID-19. 71% of them reported changes in mood and anxiety levels due to the pandemic. There was also a significant statistical difference between this group and the other 29% regarding GDS15 and GAI scores (p <0.001). Meaningful correlations were found between GDS and GAI (rho = 0.52 / ρ = 0,001) in which the larger the depressive symptomatology, the higher the anxiety level was. Conclusion: Results suggest that there have been associations between depression and anxiety symptoms in older adults during the pandemic period. Such findings are important for the implementation of social and health public policies.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genaro G. Ortiz ◽  
Elva D. Arias-Merino ◽  
María E. Flores-Saiffe ◽  
Irma E. Velázquez-Brizuela ◽  
Miguel A. Macías-Islas ◽  
...  

Background. Cognitive impairment is an important clinical issue among elderly patients with depression and has a more complex etiology because of the variable rate of neurodegenerative changes associated with depression. The aim of the present work was to examine the prevalence of cognitive impairment and depression in a representative sample of adults aged≥60 years.Methods. The presented work was a cross-sectional study on the prevalence of cognitive impairment and depression. Door-to-door interview technique was assigned in condition with multistage probability random sampling to obtain subjects that represent a population of the Guadalajara metropolitan area (GMA), Mexico. Cognitive function and depression were assessed by applying standardized Mini-Mental State Examination of Folstein (MMSE) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), respectively.Results. Prevalence of cognitive impairment was 13.8% (14.5% women, 12.6% men); no significant differences by gender and retired or pensioner were found. Prevalence of depression was 29.1% (33.6% women, 21.1% men); no significant differences by retired or pensioner were found. Cognitive impairment was associated with depression (OR  =  3.26, CI 95%, 2.31–4.60). Prevalence of cognitive impairment and depression is associated with: being woman, only in depression being older than 75 years being married, and a low level of education.Conclusion. Cognitive impairment and depression are highly correlated in adults aged≥60.


Author(s):  
María Erazo ◽  
Martha Fors ◽  
Sofía Mullo ◽  
Paloma González ◽  
Carmen Viada

The present study aimed to assess the validity of a Spanish version of the Geriatric Depression-15 Scale (GDS-15) in Ecuadorian adults. Cross-sectional study to validate GDS-15 in its short version (GDS-15). Internal consistency and factor structure were assessed through Kuder Richardson 20 and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. A total of 211 subjects 65 years of age and older participated in the validation process. Internal consistency was adequate, the Kuder Richardson 20 coefficient for the total scale was 0.73. Three factor structure was found for the scale. This study highlights the importance of having a validated scale for screening depression in the elderly. This study provides an evidence for the use of GDS-15 in Ecuadorian elderly population to screen for depression.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 1416-1425
Author(s):  
Wafaa Ihab Hafez Elsawy ◽  
Aida Aly Reda Sherif ◽  
Medhat Salah El Din Attia ◽  
Nessrin Ahmed El- Nimr

Background: Depression is a common illness worldwide with high rate among medical students. The objectives were to estimate the prevalence of depression among medical students in Alexandria, and identify its correlates. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used. The study was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria Uni- versity. Using a systematic random sampling technique, 390 students attending 4th, 5th, and 6th academic years were included. Data was collected using the Arabic version of the BDI-II and a predesigned structured self-administered questionnaire, including questions about the students’ personal and social characteristics and academic environment. Results: Moderate and severe depression accounted for 27.9% and 17.2%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis results showed that the independent predictors for moderate and severe depression were female gender, the presence of mental illness, not having someone to talk to when under stress, experiencing stressful life event(s) during the previous 6 months, not being satisfied with the socioeconomic level, reporting that the surrounding environment is not suitable for studying, not specifying a grade to achieve, and extreme dissatisfaction with the student’s result. Conclusion: Prevalence of moderate and severe depression was high among medical students, calling for actions to help those students and to prevent new cases. Keywords: BDI-II; depression; determinants; medical students; prevalence.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S528-S528 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Ghanmi ◽  
S. Aloulou ◽  
A. Mechri ◽  
K. Zitoun ◽  
A. Ben Hmida ◽  
...  

IntroductionDepression is one of the most common mental illnesses in the elderly and its consequences are severe.AimsTo measure the prevalence of depression in elderly cancer patients and subsequently determine the sociodemographic and clinical factors correlated with this disorder.MethodsWe conducted a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study of patients aged over than 65 years old, suffering from cancer and who had no cognitive impairment, admitted in 2013 in the Oncology and palliative care unit of Gabes regional Hospital (Tunisia). We used a self-rating questionnaire to detect sociodemographics and clinical variables, the Geriatric depression scale (GDS) to assess depressive symptoms, and the Activity of Daily Living to determine the degree of autonomy.ResultsAt the end of our investigation, we included 60 patients. The prevalence of depression was 48%. Depression was significantly correlated with: marital status (widower subjects were more depressed (74% vs. 34%, P = 0.007)), less degree of autonomy (80% vs. 38%, P = 0.04), fatigue (62% vs. 26%, P = 0.007), pain (59% vs. 26%, P = 0.02), family psychiatric history (80% vs. 20%, P = 0.02), family history of death by cancer (72% vs. 38%, P = 0.01), WHO condition (67% vs. 34%, P = 0.04) and the presence of co morbidity in particularly diabetes (69% vs. 41%, P = 0.05).ConclusionDepression is prevalent in oncogeriatric environments. This could compromise quality of support and care of these patients. Close collaboration between oncologist and psychiatrist is needed to support and relieve these patients.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno de Souza Moreira ◽  
Daniela Maria da Cruz dos Anjos ◽  
Daniele Sirineu Pereira ◽  
Rosana Ferreira Sampaio ◽  
Leani Souza Máximo Pereira ◽  
...  

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