Factors related to depression of elderly in a Korean rural community

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Depression is prevalent and a serious disorder in the elderly that interferes with social and physical function. It is associated with significant morbidity and a high mortality rate from suicide. Depression is highly treatable disease, but it remain largely unrecognized and untreated among the elderly. This study evaluate the factors related to depression of elderly, to be used as basic reference for management program in the community. METHODS: The cross-sectional study evaluates the depression of community-living elderly, aged 60 and older, in a Korean rural community. The subject were selected from a two stage cluster sampling. Questionnaire contained demographics, Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA), Mini-Mental Status Exam-Korean (MMSE-K), IADL, Social support network. T-test and multiple stepwise regression were constructed to explore the factors related to depression. RESULTS: Mean age was 71.22+/-7.1 with 101 male subjects and 200 female subjects. The mean GDS score was 6.9+/-3.7 and 56.5% of subjects were suggested depression (above 5 point on GDS). The mean score from the GDS showed significant differences in terms of following factors gender, age, education, marital status, income, expenditures, type of residency, cognitive function, presence of disease, number of medications, stress, subjective self perception of health, IADL, nutrition, emotional support, social activity support, instrumental support (p0.05). These variables explained 34.2% of depression. CONCLUSION: Nutritional status, cognitive function, physical state, functional state, social support network demographic characteristics were related to depression in the elderly.