Depression in the elderly living in a rural area and other related factors

Abstract

Introduction. We want to determine the prevalence of depression in a rural population (65 years and over) free from cognitive impairment and to evaluate related factors of late life depression.

Patients and method. A total of 265 persons (mean age [SD]: 76.2 [6.7] years; 60.4 % females) residing in the towns of Proaza, Quiros and Santo Adriano (Asturias) were interviewed. The evaluation included sociodemographical and clinical aspects as well as the Mini-Mental State Examination Spanish version (MMSE), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), the Oviedo Sleep Questionnaire (OSQ), the CAGE Questionnaire, the Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument (WHOQOL-BREF).

Results. A total of 23 subjects out of the total sample were excluded from the study due to scoring less than 18 points on the MMSE. The final sample included 242 subjects (mean age [SD]: 75.59 (6.2) years; 60.3 % females). Prevalence of probable depression was 23.1% [30.1% females vs 12.5 % males; p = 0.002]. Depression was statistically associated with a higher number of physical diseases (p=0.012), higher psychiatric comorbidity (p=0.031), less cognitive impairment measured by MMSE (p=0.019), higher prevalence of sleep disorders (p ≤ 0.050), higher score in the GHQ-28 (p = 0.000), and worse quality of life evaluated by the WHOQOL-BREF (p=0.000).

Conclusions. Depression is moderately prevalent in this population. Depression is more frequent in females, those living alone, without studies, working in agricultural sector, with physical or psychiatric comorbidity, with higher cognitive impairment, and with a worse health status and quality of life perception.