Prevalence and Correlates of Depression among the Elderly in an Urban Community / 農村醫學 地域保健

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of depression and identify its related factors among an urban elderly. METHODS: The data for this study were obtained from 333 men and 514 women, aged 65-79 years who participated in '2007 community health survey' in Donggu, Gwangju metropolitan city. Their depressive symptoms were measured by Korean version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). RESULTS: The mean CES-D score (mean+/-S.D) for all subjects was 7.68+/-0.31. The mean CES-D score was significantly greater in the women (9.09+/-0.43) than in the men (5.51+/-0.39) (p or =16), probable depression (CES-D score> or =21), and definite depression (CES-D score> or =25) were 8.1%, 5.4%, and 3.9% in men, respectively. The prevalence rates of possible depression, probable depression, and definite depression were 19.5%, 11.1%, and 7.2% in women, respectively. Existence of spouse (no/yes), education level (no/high school or higher), health security system (medical aid/national health insurance), self-reported health status (poor/good), vascular risk factors (present/absent) proved to be statistically significant related factors of depression. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that a systematic effort and attention to support for elderly people living alone, low educational level, medical aid, poor self-reported health status and vascular risk factors should be promoted to reduce the incidence of depression.

Relationship between Blood Pressure and Cognitive Function according to Age in Elderly Adults

BACKGROUND: It has been reported that the association between blood pressure and cognitive impairment could be modified by factors such as gender, education, and Apo E genotypes. This study was aimed to investigate whether `age' could also be a modifier of the association. METHODS: The study group consisted of 489 participants aged 65 years or over who lived in Namwon, Korea. The presence of hypertension was ascertained by the measurement of their resting blood pressure. A cognitive impairment was considered to be present when a Korean Mini-Mental State Examination score was less than 19 (30th percentile). RESULTS: A higher systolic blood pressure was significantly associated with cognitive impairment, after an adjustment for age, gender, education, and occupation. However, the significance was lost in subjects aged 71 or over. CONCLUSIONS: High systolic blood pressure is a factor strongly associated with cognitive impairment in an aged population. However, in the subjects with far advanced age, the association is not significant. Further studies are required to elucidate whether blood pressure lowering strategies should be differentiated according to age in order to reduce cognitive impairment.

The Effect of Passive Smoking on Asthma Symptoms, Atopy, and Airway Hyperresponsiveness in Schoolchildren

Passive smoking is a major cause of respiratory morbidity, and is associated with increased bronchial responsiveness in children. To evaluate the effect of smoking by a parent on asthma symptoms, atopy, and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), we conducted a cross-sectional survey of 503 schoolchildren that involved questionnaires, spirometry, allergy testing, and a bronchial challenge test. If the PC20 methacholine was less than 16 mg/mL, the subject was considered to have AHR. The prevalence of a parent who smoked was 68.7%. The prevalence of AHR was 45.0%. The sensitization rate to common inhalant allergens was 32.6%. Nasal symptoms such as rhinorrhea, sneezing, nasal itching, and nasal obstruction were present in 42.7%. Asthma symptoms such as cough and wheezing were present in 55.4%. The asthma symptoms were significantly more prevalent in children who had a parent who smoked than in those whose parents did not. The nasal symptoms, atopy, and AHR did not differ according to whether a parent smoked. In a multiple logistic regression model, the asthma symptoms and atopy were independently associated with AHR, when adjusted for confounding variables. Passive smoking contributed to asthma symptoms in schoolchildren and was not an independent risk factor of airway hyperresponsiveness in an epidemiological survey.

Chronic Disease and Health-Related Quality of Life in an Urban Elderlies

BACKGROUND: In Korea, the proportion and absolute number of old people are increasing very rapidly. And the concern about the quality-of-life of elderly is to increase more and more among health care workers. The quality-of-life of elderly is affected by chronic medical conditions in some part. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association between eight chronic medical conditions and health-related quality of life among the community-based elderly. METHODS: Target areas were 22 dongs in Dong-gu,Kwangju and 2 dongs in Buk-gu. Six hundreds subjects were randomly sampled from target ares. Interview survey was performed for chronic medical conditions by check list and health-related quality of life by COOP chart. Actual subjects were 568 elderlies. RESULTS: The results are followed ; 1) Compared with other domains of health-related quality of life, overall health was the most associated with chronic medical conditions, and social activity the least associated. 2) Stroke were significantly associated with every domain. And also back problems/joint problems were except the domain of social activity. Compared with other disease, stroke was the most associated with health-related quality of life except the domain of pain. 3) Migraine/chronic headache, gastroduodenal problems, and heart conditions were significantly associated with overall health, bodily pain, and one or two domains. 4) Hypertension and diabetes mellitus were signi ficantly associated with only one domain; overall health 5) Asthma and chronic bronchitis was not associated with any domains. CONCLUSION: Generally, health-related quality of life was highly associated with mobility limiting diseases such as back problems/joint problems stroke. And also moderately associated with pain relation disease such ans migraine/chronic headache, gastroduodenal problems, and heart condition.