ARE ELDERLY PEOPLE LIVING IN OLD-AGE HOME, LESS DEPRESSED THAN THOSE OF COMMUNITY? FINDINGS FROM A COMPARATIVE STUDY

The increasing elderly populations are prone to depression. Its magnitude should be identified to address the problem. The objective of the study was to compare the prevalence of depression between elderly people living in old-age home and community setting. The old-age home of Devghat, Chitwan, Nepal and its adjacent communities were selected as study area. The duration of cross-sectional study was Jun to Sep 2007. Total sample size was 110. Elders living in old-age home (n=55) were compared with elders from community (n=55). A standard Geriatric Depression Scale and socio-demographic interview schedule was employed for data collection. Depression was dependent variable whereas age, sex, caste, religion, marital status, spousal status, education, pension, number of children, monthly family income, social support, family size, and domicile were independent variables. Prevalence rate of depression was 52.73% in old-age home and 25.45% in community. Females had higher prevalence rate of depression than male in old-age home (93.1% vs. 6.9%), whereas in the community group, it was higher in males (64.3% vs. 35.7%). Logistic regression analysis revealed non-social support (P=0.017), illiteracy (P=0.035), female sex (P=0.036) and low income (P=0.049) as the predictors of depression. Results of this relatively small-sized study resembled with other larger studies. The high prevalence rate of depression among the elderly in old-age homes and community lowers their productivity and places burden to family and society. For this reason, concerned authorities should timely address depression in elderly people.