Mental Health of Community-Dwelling Older Adults and Related Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study

Improving lifestyle, increasing lifespan and life expectancy have led to the phenomenon of aging in societies. The increasing population of older adults is one of the most important economic, social, and health challenges in the current century.

This study was conducted to measure the mental health of older adults in Qom City and its relationship with socioeconomic factors.

This is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study on 400 older adults over 60 years in the urban areas of Qom in 2018. A multi-stage sampling method was used for this study. The research tools were a demographic questionnaire, the Kessler Psychological Distress scale (K6), and a standard psychological well-being scale. Data were analyzed by Stata 12 software using the t-test. The significance level was considered less than 0.05.

Considering the mental health status, based on the K6, 55% of the elderly showed signs of low depression anxiety, 34% moderate, and 11% showed severe anxiety symptoms. Regarding the status of well-being, 49.50% were in good condition (11.3 ± 3.3), 27.75% were in moderate condition (13.8 ± 2.9), and 22.75% were in poor condition (7.3 ± 2.6). Anxiety and depression had significant relationships with gender, having an illness, marital status, having a caregiver, and income.

The results showed that about half of the elderly in Qom had moderate anxiety and depression disorders, as well as moderate mental well-being, which indicates the moderate level of anxiety and mental disorders in the elderly in Qom.