Depression and its association with quality of life among elderly: An elderly home- cross sectional study

Abstract Background Elderly population is on the rise and elderly depression is very common. Institutionalization further increases the risk of them being more depressed and can have impact on quality of life. The aim of this study was to find the prevalence of depression in institutionalized elders and assess for the demographic correlates and also assess the quality of life. Method An institutionalized based cross- sectional study was conducted from September 2017−18. A total of 159 elders residing in old age home were included in the study. The validated Nepali translation of Geriatric Depression Scale -15 item was used to assess the depression and quality of life was measured using world health organization quality of life- brief. The collected data were coded and analyzed using SPSS version 16. The descriptive statistics was calculated for socio- demographic and association with depression was analyzed using chi square test. The correlation between depression status and quality of life was done using non- parametric Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient test. Results Among the 159 elderly subjects interviewed, prevalence of depression was 39.6 % with mean age of 76 years. Depression in institutionalized elders was found to be more in males (42 %). There was significant association between age, gender and depression status (p  Conclusion The finding of this study concluded that depression among institutionalized elders was a substantial problem and affected their quality of life.