Depression in Liuyang rural community-dwelling elderly:prevalence and associated factors

Objective To assess the depression of rural community-dwelling elderly and find out associated risk factors.Methods A randomized sample of 412 subjects aged 60 years or older was selected from three rural communities.Socio-demographic characteristics,Geriatric Depression Scale(GDS),Social Support Rating Scale(SSRS),Activities of Daily Living(ADL)and Life Events Scale for the Elderly(LESE)were administered.Results The total score of GDS ranged from 0 to 30 with the mean score 12.6±7.7.Using the cutoff 11 and 21 of GDS,221 participants(53.6%)had suggestive depression,of which 144 had suggestive mild depression and 77 moderate to severe depression.Ordinal regression analysis revealed that female(OR=2.425).self-rated lower economic status(OR=2.195),seIf-rated lower health status(OR=1.962),self-rated lower status in the family (OR=1.699),getting few social support(OR=2.790),impaired activities of daily living(OR=2.863)and beating more stress from negative life events(OR=3.370)were risk factors of aggravating depression level.Conclusion Depression in the rural community-dwelling elderly was quite severe.More attention should be paid to the issue of mental health in rural community-dwelling elderly. Key words: Depression; Risk factor; The elderly; Geriatric depression scale