ASSOCIATED FACTORS TO DEPRESSION OF THE ELDERLY

Abstract

Depression of elderly is a mental health problem that impacts tremendously on the elderly themselves, their family, and society. the purposes of this descriptive research were to examine prevalence rate of elderly depression and to study factors related to depression in elderly including 1) individual factors: sex, education, marital status, 2) economic factors: occupation, adequate income 3) health factors: chronic illnesses , disability, 4) social factors: family relationship, community relationship, 5) knowledge of depression, and 6) self-care behavior.

The subject in this study included 308 elderly in Boek Phrai sub district, Banpong district, Ratchaburi province, Thailand. Data were collected through questionnaires and were analyzed using percentage, mean, standard deviation, chi-square, and one-way ANOVA.

The results of the study revealed that: The prevalence rate of elderly depression were 8.44%, factors included economic factors, health factors, knowledge about depression, and self-care behavior were statistically significant positively related to depression of elderly (p<0.05), but individual factors and social factors were not significantly related to depression.
It’s also important for nurses to assess factors related to depression of the elderly in order to develop the model of care and use self-care strategies to contribute the positive outcomes.