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Volume 27, Issue 136, June 2023

Prevalence of depression and its associated factors among elderly. Cross sectional study in health cluster two, Saudi Arabia, Riyadh

Bashaer A Alzahrani¹, Abdulaziz A Alodhayani², Faris A Alzahrani³, Faisal F Alotaibi³

¹Department of Family Medicine, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
²Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
³Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Major Depression Disorder (MDD) is considered one of the challenging issues to diagnose in elderly due to its atypical presentation in this particular group of age. This issue can be easily missed or under diagnosed. Ignoring this issue can lead to unfortunate consequences. Besides, limited studies were found regarding the prevalence of depression and the associated factors in elderlies globally and locally. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia using self-administrated paper-based questionnaire. Short version of Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) questionnaire was used to assess the prevalence and severity of depression among the participants. Results: In this study, we were able to collect data from 402 participants aged more than 60 years old. Moreover, 92.8% of them were Saudi Arabian and 58.6% were males. According to the Geriatric depression scale, it was found that 71.6% of the participants in the current study were detected to have features suggestive for depression. It was found that age did not significantly affect the prevalence of depression (P=0.198), neither nationality (P=0.910), gender (P=0.944), nor education (P=0.106). Married, employed and those living with families reported significantly lesser prevalence of depression. Conclusion: The current study reported high prevalence of depression among elderly participants receiving care at Riyadh’s Primary Health Care Centers - second cluster. Assisting elderly population to get jobs and being financially secure may contribute in lowering the level of depression, in addition to other factors.

Keywords: Depression, elderly, geriatrics, prevalence, factors, disability