Depression and associated variables in people over 50 years in Spain

Abstract Introduction Depression is a common and disabling psychiatric disorder in adulthood and is associated with higher mortality and functional disability. Objectives To determine the association between clinical and sociodemographic variables with depression in a sample of people over 50 years old living in Spain, and compare the prevalence of depression with the other Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE) countries. Material and methods There were 5830 participants in the Spanish sample of the Wave 5, 2013, of SHARE. Tools used : EURO-D (Depression) and CASP-12 (Quality of Life). Statistical analysis : bivariate, and binary logistic. Results The variables associated with depression in the binary logistic regression (EURO-D ≥ 4) were poor self-perceived physical health (OR = 13.34; 95% CI: 9.74–18.27), having more than 2 difficulties in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) (OR = 4.46; 95% CI: 3.13–6.34) and female gender (OR = 2.16; 95% CI: 1.83–2.56). Depression was more common among participants with Alzheimer (76.4%), emotional disorders (73.9%), Parkinson (57.4%), hip fracture (55.4%), and rheumatism (50.9%). Compared with other European countries, Spain had a percentage of people with depression (29.3%) that was higher than the European average (27.9%). Conclusions The most important variables associated with depression were poor perceived physical health, presence of difficulties in ADL, and female gender.