Prevalence of depression in various demographic variables among elderly

Aim of present study was to investigate the rate of prevalence of depression and its differences in various demographic variables among elderly. A survey was conducted in community of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Convenient sampling technique was used for collection of data. Depression was assessed by using the Urdu translated 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale along with demographic sheet. To check psychometric properties of Urdu translated of GDS-SF, pilot (N = 40) study was carried out. Results of pilot study revealed 0.72 cronbach’ s alpha reliability and very good content validity. In main study 310 elderly participated. The age ranged from 60 to 80 years. Whereas, mean age was 67. The prevalence of depression in elderly was found to be 42%. t test was used for analysis of data and with the help of SPSS version 14.0 results were calculated. Result revealed significant differences among elderly individuals (p < 0.05). Where, Gender (male: n=158, 29.75%), (female: n=152, 54.61%), Marital status (married: n=201, 22.38%), (unmarried: n=109, 85%), Family system (nuclear family: n=190, 48.42%), (Joint family: n =120, 31.66%) and Employment Status (employed: n=125, 19.23%), (Unemployed: n=185, 57%) demonstrated significant mean differences between two independent sample of each category. Overall, 0.76 cronbach’ s al pha reliability was recorded of main study. In Pakistan, very few researches conducted on geriatrics and there is immense need to explore more and find out the cause and effect of depression, in order to take some beneficial steps towards betterment of elderly individuals. Cross sectional study should be conducted in urban and rural areas and across cultures. More over advance statistical measurements should be used to save gray assist of world.