Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Depression among Elderly Patients Attending Primary Health Care Centers in Diyala Governorate
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32007/jfacmedbagdad.2034Keywords:
Depression, Elderly, Primary Health Care Centers, Diyala, Aging processAbstract
Background: Depression is one of the most common mood conditions among the elderly, which is linked to severe consequences such as difficulty in concentration and mood disturbances, followed by a lack of interest in social activities, apathy, pessimism, and changes in appetite and sleep.
Aim of the study: To determine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of depression and the associated factors among 60-year-olds and over.
Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted on a group of 218 patients attending selected primary health care centers (PHCC) in Diyala governorate from Al-Khales and Baquba first sectors from first of September 2020 till first of April 2021. A direct interview was conducted by the researcher. Depression in the studied group was measured using the Arabic version of the short form of Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Socio-demographical factors were also inquired about in this study.
Results: The prevalence of depression among the study participants was 63.3%. There was a statistically significant association between depression and gender (higher in females 69.2%), marital status (in widowed 84.8%), current residence (93.3% in those living alone), and source of monthly income (78.1% in those on financial assistance), medical illnesses (70.2%), and past history of depression (71.3%).
Conclusions: Depressive symptoms are prevalent among elderly patients attending primary health centers in Diyala Governorate and are associated with female gender, being a widow, living alone, financial insecurity and chronic illnesses.
Downloads
References
Barcelos-Ferreira R, Nakano EY, Steffens DC, Bottino CM. Quality of life and physical activity associated to lower prevalence of depression in community-dwelling elderly subjects from Sao Paulo. Journal of affective disorders. 2013 Sep 5; 150(2):616-22. 2. Neves RT, Laham CF, Aranha VC, Santiago a, Solimar F, Lucia MC. Envelhecimento e doenças cardiovasculares: depressão e qualidade de vida em idosos atendidos em domicílio. Psicologia Hospitalar. 2013Jul; 11(2):72-98.
Steffens DC, Hays JC, Krishnan KR. Disability in geriatric depression. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 1999 Dec 1; 7(1):34-4
American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Depression. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787.x03_Bipolar_and_Related_Disorders. 5. Federal G. Programa mais médicos [Internet]. Brasília: Governo Federal. 2017. 6. Barcelos-Ferreira R, Nakano EY, Steffens DC, Bottino CM. Quality of life and physical activity associated to lower prevalence of depression in community-dwelling elderly subjects from Sao Paulo. Journal of affective disorders. 2013 Sep 5; 150(2):616-22. 7.Yesavage JA, Brink TL, Rose TL, Lum O, Huang V, Adey M, et al. Development and validation of a geriatric depression screening scale: a preliminary report. J Psychiatr Res. 1982-1983; 17(1): 37-49. 8. Alyasiri AR. Depression among Elderly Patients/Mosul City. Al- Kindy College Medical Journal. 2017; 13(2):34-9. 9. Ghazwani EY, Al-Musa HM. Depression among elderly subjects attending primary health care centers in Abha City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Middle East Journal of Family Medicine. 2013; 7 (10) 10. Girgus JS, Yang K, Ferri CV. The gender difference in depression: are elderly women at greater risk for depression than elderly men? Geriatrics. 2017 Dec; 2(4):35. 11. Basta M, Micheli K, Simos P, Zaganas I, Panagiotakis S, Koutra K, et al. Frequency and risk factors associated with depression in elderly visiting Primary Health Care (PHC) settings: Findings from the Cretan Aging Cohort. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports. 2021 Apr 1; 4:100109. 12. Aly HY, Hamed AF, Mohammed NA. Depression among the elderly population in Sohag governorate. Saudi medical journal. 2018 Feb; 39(2):185. 13. Padayachey U, Ramlall S, Chipps J. Depression in older adults: prevalence and risk factors in primary health care sampling South African family practice. 2017 March 17; 59(2):61-6. 14. Sherina M, Afiah Mn, Shamsul A. Factors associated with depression among elderly patients in a primary health care clinic in Malaysia. Asia Pacific Family Medicine 2003; 2: 148–152.
Schwenk TL, Coyne JC, Fechner-Bates S. Differences between detected and undetected patients in primary care and depressed psychiatric patients. Gen. Hosp. Psych. 1996; 18: 407–15
Chong MY, Chen CC, Tsang HY, Yeh TL, Chen CS, Lee YH, et al. Community study of depression in old age in Taiwan: prevalence, life events, and socio-demographic correlates. The British Journal of Psychiatry. 2001 Jan; 178(1):29-35 17. Majdi MR, Mobarhan M G, Salek M, Taghi M, Mokhber N. Prevalence of depression in an elderly population: A population-based study in Iran. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. 2011 Jan 1; 5(1):17-21. 18. Gullich I, Duro SM, Cesar JA. Depression among the elderly: a population-based study in Southern Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia. 2016 Oct; 19:691-701.
Tsan JY, Zeber JE, Stock EM, Sun F, Copeland LA. Primary care– mental health integration and treatment retention among Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. Psychological services. 2012 Nov; 9(4): 336.
Miller MD. Recognizing and treating depression in the elderly. Adapted from Diagnosis and Treatment of Late-Life Depression: Making a Difference. Am. Assoc. Great. Psych. 1996:17.
Al-Salmani A, Juma T, Al-Noobi A, Al-Farsi Y, Jaafar N, Al- Mamari K, et al. Characterization of depression among patients at urban primary healthcare centers in oman. The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine. 2015 Jan; 49(1):1-8.
Evans M, Mottram P. Diagnosis of depression in elderly patients. Advances in psychiatric treatment. 2000 Jan; 6(1):49.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Abeer Yaseen, Mushtaq Talib
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
For all articles published in Journal of the Faculty of Medicine Baghdad, copyright is retained by the authors. Articles are licensed under an open access Creative Commons CC BY NC 4.0 license, meaning that anyone may download and read the paper for free. In addition, the article may be reused and quoted provided that the original published version is cited. These conditions allow for maximum use and exposure of the work, while ensuring that the authors receive proper rights.
How to Cite
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license..
