Psychological Morbidity Status Among the Rural Geriatric Population of Tamil Nadu, India: A Cross-sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Mental health problems like depression, cognitive impairment, anxiety, sleep disorders, and so on, arising out of senility, neurosis, and living conditions are common in the geriatric population. AIMS: To study the psychiatric morbidity among the rural elderly. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A community-based, cross-sectional study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A study was conducted on 800 rural elderly subjects, aged 60 years and more, living in ten randomly selected villages, served by the Rural Health Training Center (RHTC), Valadi, in Tamilnadu state, India. Cognitive functioning was assessed by the Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE), and the depression by the Geriatric Depression Scale — Shorter version. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The data was analyzed with SPSS 16 version statistical software using proportions, and the chi-square. RESULTS: A majority of the subjects were widows / widowers, illiterates, living with family, and showing economic dependency. The prevalence of cognitive impairment was 43.25%, with a mean MMSE score of 23.32±4.4, and the depression was 47.0% and 6.16±3.4. Cognitive impairment, depression, and a disturbed sleep pattern were associated with female sex, age, illiteracy, poverty, loneliness, and the low socioeconomic status of the family. CONCLUSIONS: The study showed a definite association between the sociodemographic factors and psychiatric morbidity. Encouraging the Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) working for the elderly, running of separate geriatric clinics, and effective implementation of schemes like old age pension are some of the measures to be taken.