Evaluating the role of residence affecting the mental health among elderly populations in Malaysia: A cross‑sectional study

According to the perception of majority of people, especially the elderly, it is believed that elderly people who are sent to old‑age homes are more prone to have depression compared to those who are living with the community. This study was aimed to assess the significance of the place of residence in relation to the presence of depression among the elderly.

A cross‑sectional descriptive study was conducted between March and August 2020 to assess the depression among the elderly population residing in the Muar district, of Malaysia. A random table was generated of 250 house numbers in Muar where there is at least one geriatric person was living and a random sampling method was used for data collection. A questionnaire was distributed to a sample size of 250 old folks of Muar: those residing in old‑age homes (n = 125) and those residing in their own houses (n = 125). A standard sociodemographic and geriatric depression scale interview was employed for data collection. All details were keyed into the SPSS version 22 software Standard Gradpack 23, and simple description and inferential statistics such as mean, median mode, percentages, and Chi‑square tests were performed to compare the effects of different residences toward the mental health of the elderly.

The total mean age of the elderly in both the places was 73.06 ± 9.116 years. Female respondents of this research accounted for 52.8%. In terms of religion, Islam had the highest number of respondents of 46.8%, followed by Buddhist (33.6%), Christian (10.8%), and Hindu (8.8%). The percentage of elderly having more than three children was 45.2%. The marital status and employment status of the elderly in Muar area are mostly widowed (40.8%) and retired (50%). They are predominately literate (81.6%) and most have a monthly income less than RM 2000 (90.8%). We found that the prevalence rate of depression was 70.4% in the elderly residing in old‑age homes and 24.8% in the elderly living in the community. Females had a higher prevalence of depression than males (60.2% vs. 39.8%) among the elderly in old‑age homes, whereas males had a higher prevalence in the community than females (51.6% vs. 48.4%). Logistic regression analysis revealed the place of residence (P < 0.01 and employment status (P = 0.011) as the predictors of depression.

Results of this study revealed that the high prevalence rate of depression among the elderly is in old‑age homes compared to elderly living in the community.