Depression and Associated Factors Among Community-Dwelling Elderly People / 日本農村医学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to clarify the current status of depression among healthy community-dwelling elderly people and to examine the association between depression and their sense of purpose in life. A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted with 213 elderly people who attended a public lecture at University A. The outcome measures were the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), the K-1 Scale for the Feeling That Life Is Worth Living Among the Aged (Ikigai Scale), the Social Support Scale for the Elderly (Social Support Scale), and a basic checklist (Frailty Scale). Using a cut-off of 4/5 points on the GDS, respondents were divided into a non-depressive group (≤ 4 points) and a depressive group (≥ 5 points). Each variable was compared between the two groups. Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine factors associated with depression. Among the 213 people who received the survey, 196 responded (response rate 92.0%) and 185 provided valid responses after excluding those with missing data (valid response rate 86.9%). Of these 185 respondents, 80 were classified into the non-depressive group (35 men, 45 women) and 52 into the depressive group (14 men, 38 women), which showed a significant sex difference. Mean age was 73.2 (SD 6.9) years in the non-depressive group and 76.1 (SD 7.74) years in the depressive group, which also showed a significant difference. The Ikigai Scale score was significantly higher in the non-depressive group compared with the depressive group. The Ikigai subscale scores for “self-realization and will”, “sense of life fulfillment”, “will to live”, and “sense of existence” were significantly higher in the non-depressive group. In the multiple regression analysis, factors associated with depression were sense of life fulfillment (β=－0.36), health status (β= 0.24), will to live (β=－0.17), age (β= 0.24), negative support (β=0.18), and healthy habits (β=0.12). These results suggest that depression is associated with self-realization, sense of life fulfillment, will to live, and sense of existence, indicating the importance of activities that create a sense of purpose in life for preventing depression in the community-dwelling elderly people.