Prevalence and Correlates of Depression in Elderly Persons

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Abstract
A sample of 504 elderly persons living within a metropolitan area were questioned about their socio-medical characteristics and administered the Wakefield Self-assessment Depression Inventory. The distribution of depression scores indicated that 34.5% were depressed. Stepwise regression analysis was next used to examine the relationships between the characteristics and depression scores. Total number of self-reported symptoms and being partially housebound were positively associated with depression. Recommendations were made that health care providers for the elderly be alerted that older persons with physical complaints and those who are partially restricted to their homes may tend to develop levels of depression which might require psychiatric intervention.