Prevalence of depression and associated factors among elderly Sudanese: a household survey in Khartoum State

ABSTRACT

We assessed depression among 300 elderly Sudanese [age 60+ years]. We conducted a cross-sectional household survey in 3 localities in Khartoum State. A 2-stage stratified sampling was carried out to select the localities and then the areas using simple random sampling; then systematic random sampling was used to select households. The prevalence of depression was 47.5%. Depression was significantly associated with age [P = 0.002], level of education [P = 0.015], occupation [P < 0.001], the problems of everyday living [P = 0.026], and social problems [P < 0.001]. After controlling for confounders using multiple logistic regression, we found that depression was 4 times greater among the elderly retired compared to the elderly working, 3 times greater among the elderly with social problems and those who were suffering from urine incontinence and 2 times greater among the elderly with living problems