A study on depression and its associated risk factors among elderly in urban field practice area of shri b.m.patil medical college, vijayapur

Introduction: Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders and is represented as an emerging public health problem. According to the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders V (DSM V), depression is characterized by the presence of five or more symptoms for a period of 2-week and represent a change from previous functioning, with at least one of the symptom of depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure. Depression is also a major cause of morbidity and disability. Its burden of disease ranks high in many countries. Depression is ranked as the fourth disorder in the global burden of disease and by the year 2030, it is expected to be the highest disorder in developing countries
Objectives: To determine the prevalence of depression, its associated factors among adults in urban practice area, Vijayapur
Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted to assess depression among all patients aged ≥60 years, between Oct and Dec 2015. A sample of 200 patients was included in the analysis. A total score of ≥10 in the PHQ-9 was considered as major depression
Results: The prevalence of severe depression was 12% and mild depression was 23.5%. The major depression was significantly higher in females than males and among non working elderly. The prevalence was rising significantly with advancing age, and high in elderly who were living single of widowed. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate the various risk factors for depression among the respondents. Age, whether family living together or not, history of sleep disturbance and past history of mental illness were significantly associated with depression.