Magnitude of depression and its correlates among elderly population in a rural area of Maharashtra: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder among elderly population in India, yet, it is commonly misdiagnosed and undertreated. The exact burden of depression among the elderly population in rural India was not known. OBJECTIVES: To study the magnitude of depression among the elderly masses in rural Maharashtra and to find its correlates. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This is a cross sectional study, carried out among the elderly (≥60 years) population of both sexes residing in the field practice area of the department of community medicine. Geriatric depression scale was used for screening depression among the study population. Data collection was completed within 2 months using convenience sampling. Ethical approval was taken before beginning the study. Magnitude was expressed in percentage along with its 95% confidence interval (CI). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was carried out to study associated correlates. Odds ratio and 95% CI was used to express association. RESULTS: The magnitude of depression among the elderly population was found to be 41.7% (95% CI 36.1–47.4). We got the significant positive association of female sex, living without spouse, lacking in decision making capability, a victim of abuse or neglect, or suffering from chronic illnesses with depression among elderly population in univariate analysis that did not hold good in the multivariate logistic regression. Our study showed the prevalence of mild depression among elderly to be 26.72% and that of severe depression to be 15.17%. CONCLUSION: To deal with this huge social problem of depression among the elderly population, more enthusiastic steps should be undertaken.