Depressive Symptoms among Geriatric Population

Depression is the condition characterized by a prolonged period of time in which negative thoughts and feelings predominate, interfering with our usual functioning, or blinding us from our true potential.¹ The impact on quality of life is all-encompassing because it can lead individuals to withdraw from daily activities and relationships; thus, the disorder has a reverberating impact on family and friends as well.² So the prevention of depression begins with the assessment of depressive symptoms among geriatric population, identifying the geriatric population at risk and to adapt certain preventive strategies to reduce the prevalence of depressive symptoms. The present study aimed to identify depressive symptoms among geriatric population of Pashupati Old Age Home, Kathmandu, Nepal.

The descriptive survey approach was adopted for the present study and conducted in Pashupati Old Age Home, Kathmandu, Nepal. The tool consists of demographic proforma and Geriatric Depression Scale. Data was collected interview method using non – randomized purposive sampling technique. The data was analyzed using Excel 2007, R 2.8.0 Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPPS) for Windows Version 16.0 (SPSS Inc; Chicago, IL, USA).

Most of the participant were of age group 80 years and above (53%), most of them were female (52%), majority of them were Hindu (88%), most of them were married (58%), major of the participants were illiterate (96%), most of the participants have more than two children (56%), most of them are semi skilled (95%), most of them are not psychologically supported by their family and relatives (65%), most of them are not financially supported by family members (94%), the reason for leaving home for most of them are lack of care taker (64%), the length of stay of most of them are more than 1 year (75%), most of the participants have physical illness (96%). Majority of participants had mild depression of 56%, 25% of them had severe depression and 19% had normal depression score.

Majority of the respondents had mild depressive symptoms. Depressive disorder is highly prevalent among the elderly population residing in the old age home in Kathmandu with history of physical illness. Most of them move to old age home due to lack of care giver.