Factors Influencing Depression among Elderly in Ban Bangkhae Nursing Homes, Bangkok, Thailand After Flooding

Abstract

Depression is the most common mental health disorder, a disease that involves the body, mood and thoughts. It is often under diagnosed, especially among elderly people in the nursing home setting. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression and identify factors associated with depression among the elderly people in the nursing home setting, Bangkok, Thailand. Cross-sectional study was conducted among 237 participants above the age of 60 at Ban Bangkhae nursing homes; Bangkok Thailand. The measurement tools consisted of Thai Geriatric Depression Scale, UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS) and other related questionnaires.  Multivariable linear regression was used to determine factors predictive of depressive symptoms and factors with statistical significant of each analysis against the p-value 0.05. The study revealed that the prevalence of major depression was 7.2% and the prevalence of minor depression was 32.1%.  Insomnia, loneliness, lack of social activity, physical activity and inadequate vitamin D were found to be the prominent factors with depressive symptoms among Ban Bangkhae nursing homes setting. Unforeseen flooding natural disaster from October and December 2011 may overestimate the true prevalence of depression is limitation of this study. This findings indicate that the prevalence of depressive symptoms in this study was 39.1% high in comparing to the findings in Thai community dwelling elderly. Insomnia, loneliness, lack of social activity, physical activity and inadequate vitamin D were identified as important factors to emphasize when assessing for depression in the nursing home setting. This could be assisted in developing adequate prevention and treatment strategies among the elderly in the nursing home population.