Prevalence and Determinants of Depression among elderly rural population of North India

Context: Depression is the commonest neuropsychiatric
disorder in elderly. Depression can reduce the quality of
life and also increases the dependence on others.
Objective: The objectives of the study were to find out
the prevalence of depression and to identify associated
risk factors among community dwelling elderly from rural
North India.
Methods: It was a cross-sectional, descriptive study involving
100 community-dwelling elderly residing in a village
of North India. A non-probability convenience sampling
was done. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15)-Hindi
Version was used to assess depression. Descriptive statistics
was performed using SPSS version 12. Cross tabulation
for different variables was done and Chi-square
was used as test of significance. The level of significance
was set as p < 0.05. A formal (verbal) consent was taken.
Anonymity and confidentiality was assured.
Results: Among 100 respondents, 64% were males
while 36% were females. The mean of the elderlies was
68.49±22.6 years with mostly(54.0%) being in the agegroup
of 60-69 years. The study found that 42.0% of the
elderlies were depressed out of which 14.0% were having
severe depression. Depression was more among females
than male (p=0.03). Depression was statistically significant
among unmarried/widowed/separated respondents
(p<0.05) and illiterate (p<0.001). Although a large proportion
of the participants were satisfied with their income,
this was statistically significant (p<0.001) for depression
among those who were not satisfied with their income.
Conclusion: A significant prevalence of geriatric depression
was reported. In order to reduce its prevalence, general
physicians and other health care professionals need
to be sensitized about geriatric depression and its risk
factors.