Özet:

Introduction: Depression is a disease which has assumed immense public health importance in developing countries with fast changing life styles and increasing life spans. Depression is usually under diagnosed and under treated. The elderly having depression show overall poorer social participation than those with heart disease, hypertension or diabetes. Objective: To determine frequency of depression in elderly population visiting outpatient departments of tertiary care hospitals and to assess its various risk factors. Study Design: Cross sectional analytical study Place and Duration of Study: Outpatient’s departments of Pak Emirates Military Hospital (PEMH) and Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) from January to March 2018. Material and Methods: Consecutive sampling was done and sample size was calculated by taking mean prevalence at 34% and Confidence interval at 95%. Data collection tool was Interview-based structured questionnaire and geriatric depression scale (GDS) which include age, sex, education, marital status, relation with spouse, having children and financial support. Frequencies and percentages were assessed and Chi-square was used for determining the association among various risk factors. Results: Out of 347 patients, 51.6% (n=179) were depressed according to GDS. 57% (n=102) of the depressed were between 61 to 70 years. Educational status (p-value 0.04) and urban residence (p-value 0.03) were found to be associated with depression. Depression in divorced was found to be 100%. Having no children was also strongly associated with depression (p-value 0.01). Cross tabulation of depression with ethnicity and employment was statistically insignificant. Conclusion: More than 50% of the elderly patients attending hospital OPD were found to be depressed according to GDS. 71% of the depressed were diagnose for the first time. Marital status, education, urban residence and having no children were significantly associated with depression while good relation with spouse was having protective effect towards depression.

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