A Comparative Study of Depression and Associated Risk Factors among Elderly Inmates of Old Age Homes and Community of Rajkot: A Gujarati Version of the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form (GDS-G)

• Published in: Indian journal of community medicine Vol. 42; no. 4; pp. 204 - 208
• Main Authors: Zalavadiya, Dipeshkumar D, Banerjee, Anupam, Sheth, Ankit M, Rangoonwala, Matib, Mitra, Aarohi, Kadri, Amiruddin M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01-10-2017; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Age; Analysis; Blood pressure; Community; depression; Elderly; Epidemiology; Geriatric depression; geriatric depression scale; Geriatrics; Health aspects; Health care; Households; Medicine; Mental depression; Morbidity; Nursing homes; old age homes; Older people; Original; Population; prevalence; Psychological aspects; Public health; Risk factors; Rural areas; Studies; Violence; India; old age homes; prevalence; depression; geriatric depression scale; elderly; Community
• ISSN: 0970-0218; 1998-3581
• DOI: 10.4103/ijcm.IJCM_181_16

The prevalence of depression among elderly people varies across different setups such as old age homes (OAHs), community, and medical clinics.
The aim of this study was to compare the epidemiological factors pertaining to depression among elderly residents of OAHs and community, using a new Gujarati version of the Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form (GDS-G).
A cross-sectional, epidemiological study conducted in an urban setup of Western India.
All the eligible 88 elderly residents of all the six OAHs and 180 elderly residents from the same city were administered a pretested semistructured questionnaire having the GDS-G form.
Descriptive statistics, odds ratio, Spearman's rank correlation test.
The elderly of OAHs were more depressed compared to those of community (odds ratio = 1.84; 95% confidence interval = 1.09-3.06). Older age, females, weaker family ties, economic maladies, poorer self-perception of health status, presence of chronic ailments, absence of recreational activity, lack of prayers, impaired sleep, history of addiction emerged as the predictors of depression in both the setups. More health complaints and a later self-perception of visit to a doctor were found among the depressed than the nondepressed in both the setups.
Depressive symptoms were quite high among the elderly in both the setups. Special attention should be given toward health checkups of depressed persons in the OAH and improvement of family ties among depressed persons of the community.