The Depression Status Of The Elderly and It's Related Factors In Isfahan In 2007

The aim of the current study was to determine the depressionstatus of the elderly and it's related factors. This was a cross sectional study. Sample unit wasbased on the elderly of Isfahan city in 2007. 248 elderly aged 60 andolder(125 men and 123 women) were selected randomly according toclusters related to the families that are under coverage of Isfahan Universityof Medical Science and its in provincial health centers of health deputythroughout the province. Depression status of them was evaluated byGeriatric Depression Scale (GDS) questionnaire which was standardized forthe Iranian population. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used todetermine the relationship between depression status and demographicfactors. From 125 elderly men and 123 elderly women,121(96.8 %) elderlymen and 110 (89.4 %) elderly women were in age group of 60-74 years and4 (3.2 %) elderly men and 13 (10.6 %) elderly women were in age group of75 years and over.36.3% of elderly people didnt have depression and 63.7%were sufffering depression (40.7% moderate depression and 23% severedepression). Low education level(diploma and lower) (OR = 2.14, CI0.95:1/05–4.39) was a risk factor for developing moderate depression but femalesex (OR =0/42, CI0.95: 0.2–0.85), and having alive spouse / husband andliving with her/him(OR =0.44,CI0.95: 0.19–1.001) had protective role indeveloping moderate depression. living with spouse / husband (OR =0.34, CI0.95: 0.14–0.85) had a protective role in developing severe depression, too. According to high prevalence of depression among elderly andimportant role of living alone in developing it, applying some interventionsuch as symptoms of depression for early detection and early treatment ofdisease(early intervention) and provision of cultural backgrounds andattitudes for remarriage of elderly people is necessary.