Prevalence and associated factors of depression among elderly patients attending the primary health clinic in Prince Mansour Military Hospital in Taif, Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND: Depression in the elderly is a common, debilitating, and costly condition. Little is known about the prevalence and correlates of geriatric depression in Saudi Arabia. This study evaluates the prevalence of depression among the elderly and its associated risk factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based descriptive study was conducted on 259 elderly patients attending the Prince Mansour Military Hospital emergency department family medicine clinic in Taif city. Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was used. RESULTS: The mean score was 4.4 (standard deviation [SD] = 2.56), ranging between 0 and 13. The median GDS score was 4. According to the results of this study, Cronbach’s alpha for the GDS was 0.61 (95% confidence interval: 0.54–0.68). The prevalence of depression among the study participants was 43.2%. According to the GDS score categorization, 36.3% were mildly depressed, 4.2% were moderately depressed, and 2.7% were severely depressed. The adjusted effect was statistically significant for male gender (odds = 0.39, P < 0.001), older age (odds = 1.11, P = 0.007), diabetes mellitus (odds = 3.04, P = 0.02), asthma (odds = 25.94, P < 0.001), and renal failure (odds = 114.27, P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Identification and treatment of geriatric depression should be prioritized by the family physicians in Saudi Arabia. Further research should focus on designing better culture-friendly geriatric depression screening tools.