Addressing the mental health needs of India’s aging population: Understanding depression prevalence and social risk factors in tertiary care outpatients
Background: Depression is a major public health problem among older persons. Identifying the prevalence and recognizing modifiable risk factors of depression in older persons is essential for early diagnosis and appropriate management. Apart from traditional risk factors, medical comorbidities, chro...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2023-09-01
|
| Series: | Indian Journal of Psychiatry |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_352_23 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1825206176521912320 |
|---|---|
| author | Joanne Lydia Rajkumar Surekha Viggeswarapu Suja Kurian Munaf B. Nandyal Mahasampath Gowri |
| author_facet | Joanne Lydia Rajkumar Surekha Viggeswarapu Suja Kurian Munaf B. Nandyal Mahasampath Gowri |
| author_sort | Joanne Lydia Rajkumar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background:
Depression is a major public health problem among older persons. Identifying the prevalence and recognizing modifiable risk factors of depression in older persons is essential for early diagnosis and appropriate management. Apart from traditional risk factors, medical comorbidities, chronic illness, and social factors can contribute to depression in the older person. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression and identify the medical and social risk factors associated with depression in older persons attending a geriatric outpatient clinic.
Methods:
Consecutive patients aged over 60 years presented to the geriatric outpatient clinic of the Christian Medical College (CMC) and Hospital, Vellore, were screened using the Physical Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Medical, social, and financial information were collected. Following a detailed clinical interview, the Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised (CIS-R) was administered and the ICD-10 diagnosis of depression was derived.
Results:
A total of 171 participants were recruited. The prevalence of depression was found to be 53.2% with PHQ-2 and 35.6% with GDS. Using CIS-R, 41.5% had an ICD-10 diagnosis of depression. The risk factors associated with depression in older persons were female gender, financial insecurity, lack of pension, and financial dependence.
Conclusion:
This study revealed a high prevalence of depression among older persons attending a geriatric outpatient clinic. Financial insecurities, particularly lack of pension or financial dependence, were identified as significant social risk factors for depression. Addressing these risk factors may help prevent the onset or progression of depression, thus improving their quality of life. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ab0fc8302d7f49deabb1e23d26fb53ca |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0019-5545 1998-3794 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Indian Journal of Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj-art-ab0fc8302d7f49deabb1e23d26fb53ca2025-02-07T12:42:45ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsIndian Journal of Psychiatry0019-55451998-37942023-09-0165994995410.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_352_23Addressing the mental health needs of India’s aging population: Understanding depression prevalence and social risk factors in tertiary care outpatientsJoanne Lydia RajkumarSurekha ViggeswarapuSuja KurianMunaf B. NandyalMahasampath GowriBackground: Depression is a major public health problem among older persons. Identifying the prevalence and recognizing modifiable risk factors of depression in older persons is essential for early diagnosis and appropriate management. Apart from traditional risk factors, medical comorbidities, chronic illness, and social factors can contribute to depression in the older person. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression and identify the medical and social risk factors associated with depression in older persons attending a geriatric outpatient clinic. Methods: Consecutive patients aged over 60 years presented to the geriatric outpatient clinic of the Christian Medical College (CMC) and Hospital, Vellore, were screened using the Physical Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Medical, social, and financial information were collected. Following a detailed clinical interview, the Clinical Interview Schedule-Revised (CIS-R) was administered and the ICD-10 diagnosis of depression was derived. Results: A total of 171 participants were recruited. The prevalence of depression was found to be 53.2% with PHQ-2 and 35.6% with GDS. Using CIS-R, 41.5% had an ICD-10 diagnosis of depression. The risk factors associated with depression in older persons were female gender, financial insecurity, lack of pension, and financial dependence. Conclusion: This study revealed a high prevalence of depression among older persons attending a geriatric outpatient clinic. Financial insecurities, particularly lack of pension or financial dependence, were identified as significant social risk factors for depression. Addressing these risk factors may help prevent the onset or progression of depression, thus improving their quality of life.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_352_23depressiongeriatric outpatient cliniclate-life depressionolder personprevalence of depression |
| spellingShingle | Joanne Lydia Rajkumar Surekha Viggeswarapu Suja Kurian Munaf B. Nandyal Mahasampath Gowri Addressing the mental health needs of India’s aging population: Understanding depression prevalence and social risk factors in tertiary care outpatients Indian Journal of Psychiatry depression geriatric outpatient clinic late-life depression older person prevalence of depression |
| title | Addressing the mental health needs of India’s aging population: Understanding depression prevalence and social risk factors in tertiary care outpatients |
| title_full | Addressing the mental health needs of India’s aging population: Understanding depression prevalence and social risk factors in tertiary care outpatients |
| title_fullStr | Addressing the mental health needs of India’s aging population: Understanding depression prevalence and social risk factors in tertiary care outpatients |
| title_full_unstemmed | Addressing the mental health needs of India’s aging population: Understanding depression prevalence and social risk factors in tertiary care outpatients |
| title_short | Addressing the mental health needs of India’s aging population: Understanding depression prevalence and social risk factors in tertiary care outpatients |
| title_sort | addressing the mental health needs of india s aging population understanding depression prevalence and social risk factors in tertiary care outpatients |
| topic | depression geriatric outpatient clinic late-life depression older person prevalence of depression |
| url | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_352_23 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT joannelydiarajkumar addressingthementalhealthneedsofindiasagingpopulationunderstandingdepressionprevalenceandsocialriskfactorsintertiarycareoutpatients AT surekhaviggeswarapu addressingthementalhealthneedsofindiasagingpopulationunderstandingdepressionprevalenceandsocialriskfactorsintertiarycareoutpatients AT sujakurian addressingthementalhealthneedsofindiasagingpopulationunderstandingdepressionprevalenceandsocialriskfactorsintertiarycareoutpatients AT munafbnandyal addressingthementalhealthneedsofindiasagingpopulationunderstandingdepressionprevalenceandsocialriskfactorsintertiarycareoutpatients AT mahasampathgowri addressingthementalhealthneedsofindiasagingpopulationunderstandingdepressionprevalenceandsocialriskfactorsintertiarycareoutpatients |