The Depression Status of the Elderly and It's Related Factors in Isfahan in 2007

Objectives: The aim of the current study was to determine the depression status of the elderly and it's related factors. Methods & Materials: This was a cross sectional study. Sample unit was based on the elderly of Isfahan city in 2007. 248 elderly aged 60 and older (125 men and 123 women) were selected randomly according to clusters related to the families that are under coverage of Isfahan University of Medical Science and its in provincial health centers of health deputy throughout the province. Depression status of them was evaluated by Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) questionnaire which was standardized for the Iranian population. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between depression status and demographic factors. Results: From 125 elderly men and 123 elderly women, 121(96.8%) elderly men and 110 (89.4%) elderly women were in age group of 60-74 years and 4(3.2%) elderly men and 13(10.6%) elderly women were in age group of 75 years and over.36.3% of elderly people didn't have depression and 63.7% were sufffering depression (40.7% moderate depression and 23% severe depression). Low education level (diploma and lower) (OR=2.14, CI0.95: 1.05–4.39) was a risk factor for developing moderate depression but female sex (OR=0.42, CI0.95: 0.2–0.85), and having alive spouse/ husband and living with her/him (OR=0.44,CI0.95: 0.19–1.001) had protective role in developing moderate depression. living with spouse/ husband (OR=0.34, CI0.95: 0.14–0.85) had a protective role in developing severe depression, too. Conclusion: According to high prevalence of depression among elderly and important role of living alone in developing it, applying some intervention such as symptoms of depression for early detection and early treatment of disease (early intervention) and provision of cultural backgrounds and attitudes for remarriage of elderly people is necessary.