Abstract
Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of depression and identify associated risk factors among elderly attendants of primary health care centers in Abha City, KSA.
Methodology: A cross-sectional approach was carried out among a representative random sample of registered patients, who are 65 years of age or more, at the randomly selected three PHCCs in Abha, KSA. The tool used for data collection consisted of two parts; the first part was about personal information of the participants, while the second part was a validated geriatric depression scale-short form.
Results: The study included 400 elderly patients (200 males and 200 females). Their age ranged between 65 and 80 years with a mean of 71.9 years and a standard deviation of 4.2 years. Depression, regardless of its severity, was recorded among 63.7% of elderly patients. Mild and moderate depression was reported by 47.5% and 14.5% of elderly patients respectively while severe depression was reported by only 1.8% of them. Elderly patients of the following characteristics showed more significant depression according to multivariate logistic regression analysis results; females, singles or divorced, smokers, diabetics, cancer patients, osteoarthritis patients, patients with end-stage renal disease, hepatic patients and those having visual impairment.
Conclusions: Depression constitutes a health problem among Saudi geriatrics in Abha, especially among women, those having history of chronic diseases and those having sensory impairment. These results provide insight for all physicians and nurses caring for the elderly, researchers in the field of Geriatrics, and health educators into the particular care needs of elderly patients in Abha, KSA.