Correlation between depressive symptoms, chronic diseases and daily activities in the elderly

Objective To analyze the correlation between chronic diseases, depression and activities of daily living (ADL) in the elderly, and to explore the risk factors of depressive symptoms and ADL. Methods Randomized multi-stage sampling method was used to select 504 elderly (aged ≥65 years old) in Jining City.The participants were then investigated and assessed by using Geriatric Depression Scale15, Katz-Activity of Daily Living (Katz-ADL) and Lawton instrumental ADL (Lawton-IADL). Results The prevalence of chronic diseases was 74.01% among the elderly who lived in Jining City.The positive rate of depressive symptom was 7.14% and the rate of ADL or IADL limitation was 19.05% and 66.67%, respectively.The positive rate of depressive symptom and the rate of ADL or IADL limitation of the male were lower than those of female (χ2 values were 18.15, 12.31 and 30.18, respectively; all P<0.05). The number of chronic diseases was a risk factor of depressive symptom and ADL limitation (odds ratio (OR)=1.71 or 1.53, respectively). ADL and IADL limitations were also the risk factors of depressive symptom (OR=3.15 or 9.36, respectively). Over adjustment of gender and age, the impact of the number of chronic diseases on depressive symptom, ADL and IADL and the influence of ADL and IADL limitations on depressive symptom showed no statistical significance. Conclusions Gender and age may be fundamental risk factors of depressive symptom and ADL and IADL limitations in the elderly.Family members and society workers should improve ADL and positive emotion and reduce the likelihood of depressive symptom among aging population. Key words: Aged; Depression; Activities of daily living