A Study on Depression Symptoms of Home-staying Seniors Aged 75 and Over / 日本農村医学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

　　The purpose of this study is to clarify the depression symptoms of persons, aged 75 and over, and discuss physical and cognitive aspects and impacts on QOL. On the basis of this clarification, furthermore, the authors aim at examining social support to the elderly.　　The subjects include 122 persons, aged 75 and over, consisting of 24 males (85.7 years old with SD at 5.81) and 98 females (85.34 years old with SD at 5.15) who receive day services at welfare facilities for the elderly in Saga Prefecture. The items checked in interviews consisted of basic properties, geriatric depression scale (GDS), Barthel index, mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and health-related QOL (SF8). As an analytical method, the subjects’ GDS scorewas assumed to be cutoff 5/4. As they were divided into two groups, they were compared item by item in a t test. Ethical considerations The authors briefed the intervieweeson the purposes of the study and had their consent, both orally and in writing. We also told them that the participation was utterly at their own discretion.　　The subjects consisted of 48 patients in need of care (39.3%), 38 patients in need of support (31.1%) and 27 “specified” elderly patients (22.1%), among others. It was revealed that 61 patients (50.0%) had mild depression symptoms with the GDS score at 5 to 10 points, eight patients (6.6%) had severe depression symptoms with the GDS score at 11 points, and 53 patients (43.4%) had no depression symptoms with the GDS score at less than 4 points.　　Depression symptoms were observed in 69 out of 122 subjects, or in excess of half of them, and a significant difference was observed between the two groups in growth hormone (subjective healthy feeling), indicating that the results were similar to those of an earlier study by Nagata et al.