PREVALENCE OF DEPRESSION IN ELDERLY USING GERIATRIC DEPRESSION SCALE

Elderly persons are more vulnerable to depression. We conducted this study to estimate the prevalence of depression, and to study the association of depression with demographic and clinical variables among elderly persons in a rural community. The aim of the study is to assess the depression in geriatric patients using geriatric depression scale: short form (GDS: SF -15) and to find whether psycho social factors, demographic factors, lifestyle factors, socioeconomic factors are associated with depression, also to assess the level of social support in relation to depression.The study was designed as a Prospective observational cross sectional study conducted in a tertiary care hospital to determine the prevalence of depression among geriatrics using Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form (GDS-SF). 250 patients of age above 65 are included. Simple random sampling technique has been employed for selection of participants. Age, gender, living status, sleep duration, comorbidities, and social support are collected.