ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the relationship among depression,anxiety and social support in elderly patients in community outpatient clinic. Methods A total of 551 elderly outpatients from two com-munity health service centers of Hongkou District in Shanghai were evaluated with patient health question-naire-9 (PHQ-9),generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7),perceived social support scale( PSSS) for de-pression,anxiety,physical health and social support. Results The prevalence rates of depression and anxiety were 26. 1% and 17. 2%,respectively. The scores of PHQ-9 and GAD-7 were 2. 0(4. 0) and 1. 0(2. 0). There were statistically significant differences in the scores of family support,friend support,other support and social support among the elderly patients with different degrees of depression or anxiety (P<0. 01). Fam-ily support(B=-0. 196) and friend support(B=-0. 171) were protective factors of depression in elderly pa-tients in community outpatient clinic. Age,family support and friend support were protective factors of anxiety in elderly patients,while gender and fluctuation of physical diseases were protective factors of anxiety(P<0. 05). Con-clusions The depression and anxiety is intimately related to social support in elderly outpatients. Appropriate measures should be taken to optimize social support,mitigate bad mood negative improve their quality of life.