Prevalence and determinants of geriatric depression in North India: A cross-sectional study

CONTEXT: "Aging India" has become a phenomenon of public health importance. Old age is beset with physical, mental, and social challenges. Among these, mental health concerns are least prioritized in most of the developing countries with depression being the most common and easy to screen. AIMS: To assess the burden of geriatric depression and determine its association with sociodemographic factors such as religion, age, gender, education, marital status, and family type. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was conducted in July-August 2018 in village Kirpind in north India. METHODOLOGY: 162 subjects aged 60 years or more, both males and females participated in the study. Depression was assessed using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale and those with a GDS score >=5 were categorized as depressed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Pearson's Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used for analysis. RESULTS: Nearly 59.3% of subjects had no depression, 33.9% were suffering from mild to moderate depression whereas 6.8% were severely depressed. The mean age of subjects was 69 (±7.4) years. Chi-square test was used to study the association of various factors with depression and only female gender showed a positive statistical association. On using binary logistic regression analysis, being female again emerged to be a significant predictor of depression while no other factor was significantly associated with the outcome. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to sensitize primary care workers and physicians to identify and manage geriatric depression early. It also points towards the need for multicentric, longitudinal studies evaluating various aspects of geriatric depression.