The prevalence of depressive symptoms and predisposing factors in an elderly Chinese population

In a survey of elderly Chinese aged 70 years and over living in Hong Kong selected by stratified random sampling, the prevalence of depression was determined using the 15‐item Geriatric Depression Scale using a cut‐off point of 8 (sensitivity 96.3% and specificity 87.5% for this population). Subjects with moderate to severe cognitive impairment (CAPE I/O score ≤ 7) were excluded. There were 877 men and 734 women. The adjusted overall prevalence for this population was 29.2% for men and 41.1% for women. The prevalence increased with age in men and was higher in women than in men. Univariate analysis identified many factors in the following areas that were associated with depression: socioeconomic characteristics, functional ability, physical health and social support. Stepwise logistic regression identified 16 factors predictive of depression: socioeconomic characteristics, such as borderline living expenses and dissatisfaction with living arrangement; poor social support, such as absence of an informal carer when ill, few relatives to turn to, and infrequent contact with neighbours and friends; functional disability, as indicated by a Barthel Index < 15, urinary incontinence and inability to do housework; and poor physical health – poor self perceived health, poor vision, difficulty with chewing, history of mental illness, frequent hospital admissions and increased level of symptoms such as poor memory, constipation and dizziness. Some of these factors may be amenable to intervention, and such measures may be important in reducing the high prevalence of depression in elderly people.