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Gender‐specific factors associated with risk of depression among Lebanese older adults
Author(s) -
Boulos Christa,
Salameh Pascale
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
psychogeriatrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.647
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1479-8301
pISSN - 1346-3500
DOI - 10.1111/psyg.12708
Subject(s) - loneliness , depression (economics) , medicine , odds ratio , odds , gerontology , feeling , demography , mental health , activities of daily living , logistic regression , psychiatry , psychology , social psychology , sociology , economics , macroeconomics
Background Depression among older adults is a frequent and underdiagnosed condition. However, there is a paucity of research on mental health problems among elderly people in Arab countries. The purpose of this study was to describe the risk of depression among a representative sample of older Lebanese adults living in rural areas and to identify gender‐specific factors associated with depression risk. Methods This study included a randomly selected sample of 823 rural elderly people aged ≥65 years without cognitive decline. Data, including sociodemographic characteristics, living condition, health and functional status, were collected during face‐to‐face interviews. Depression was assessed by the five‐item Geriatric Depression Scale. Results Risk for depression was significantly higher in women than in men (39.5% vs 26.2%, P < 0.001). Among men, reporting a higher versus a lower income (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.299) and being physically active significantly decreased the odds of depressive symptoms. In addition, physical disability (AOR = 3.03) and a high level of loneliness (AOR = 41.76) were significantly related to an increased risk of depression. Among women, daily or occasional physical activity was related to a reduced risk of depression compared to sedentary lifestyles (AOR = 0.35; AOR = 0.50). Furthermore digestive symptoms (AOR = 1.98), poor nutritional status (AOR = 1.99), and strong feelings of loneliness (AOR = 10.86) were significantly related to an increased odds of depression. Conclusion Elderly Lebanese people, especially women, were at high risk for depression. Among other gender‐specific factors, loneliness was strongly associated with depressive disorders in both genders, with a four times greater odds ratio in men than in women.