Prevalence of Depression among Elderly People in the Place of their Residency, in the Urban Field Practice Area of Navodaya Medical College, Raichur Kusuma1,*, Badesab Bheemayya2, Sunil3, Bhaskar Kurre4 1Post Graduate, Department of Community Medicine, Navodaya Medical College and Research Centre, Raichur 2Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Navodaya Medical College and Research Centre, Raichur 3Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Navodaya Medical College and Research Centre, Raichur 4Statistician, Navodaya Medical College and Research Centre, Raichur *Corresponding author: Kusuma Postgraduate in Community Medicine Navodaya Medical College, Raichur Ph no: 8762795592 E-mail: kusuma.gireesh@gmail.com
Online published on 15 December, 2017. Abstract Introduction Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder among the elderly. It is not yetperceived as an important health problem in India, where few community based studies are available. Objectives To estimate the prevalence of depression and socio-demographic factors influencing depression in the elderly people Materials and Method WHO-30 cluster gold standard sampling method was used to select the samples.7 elderly persons, sixty years and above were selected from each cluster till a sample size of 210 was achieved. The study was done in the urban field practice area of Navodaya Medical College. After obtaining informed consent from the elderly people (>60years) a pre-tested, pre-designed, pro-forma was used to collect the data. Geriatric depression scale-Short form (GDS-SF) questionnaire was administered to 210 selected elderly population. Elderly with psychiatric morbidity and not willing to participate were excluded from study. A score of >5 were considered to be under depression. Data collected was analyzed using Epi inf 6 version. Results Out of 210 respondents interviewed 126(60%) were found to be depressed.125 were women and 85 were men out of which 77(36.7%) and 49(23.3%) were depressed respectively. Female sex, illiteracy, widowhood, low socio-economic status and other co-morbid conditions was influencing depression. Conclusion A high level of depression was found among elderly people using GDS-SF. Quality health care of the elderly reduces the future burden of diseases and disabilities. Top Keywords Depression, Geriatric depression Scale (GDS-SF), Elderly people. Top |