Abstract
Background: Depression is a common mental health problem in the elderly population of the world. Objective: To study the chronic co-morbid conditions associated with depression in elderly population. Materials and Methods: A systematic review was conducted on 74 community-based mental health surveys on depression in elderly which were conducted in continents of Asia, Europe, Australia, North America, and South America. All the studies were conducted between 1955 and 2005. The researchers had included only community-based cross-sectional surveys and some prospective studies that had not excluded depression on baseline. These studies were conducted on homogenous community of elderly population in the world, who were selected by simple random sampling technique. A qualitative analysis on 11 of these articles was conducted to study the chronic co-morbidities associated with depression in elderly. Results and Conclusion: The univariate analysis results from 11 studies on various chronic co-morbid conditions associated with depression in elderly revealed that depression in elderly was significantly associated with arthritis, cognitive impairment, visual impairment, functional impairment, and restricted activities of daily living (ADL). The prevalence of depression followed an increasing trend as the number of chronic co-morbidities increased.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 145-148 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 01-03-2012 |
| Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Medicine(all)
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
