A descriptive study to determine the prevalence of depression among the elderly residing in rural areas

Abstract

Depression is a significant problem among old age people worldwide. It severely affects the health and cause suffering and burden for individual, family and society. Depression among the elderly is a concern; hence study was under taken to assess the depression among elderly population. Descriptive study design with cross sectional survey approach was used. 129 elderly people residing in Vithalnagar, Loni (Bk) village, were selected by using purposive sampling technique. Data was collected by using the Sheik JI and Yesavage JA, Geriatric Depression Scale [1986]. The data from the tool were analyzed by using descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage. The level of depression was classified as no depression, moderate depression and severe depression. The result shows that a total 100 out of 129 elderly (77.5%) had moderate depression and 12.5% of participants had severe depression. The study reveals very high prevalence of depression among elderly population residing in Vithalnagar, Loni (Bk) village, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra.