Depression Situation of Older People Living in Residencial Care Facilities

Mental disorder is one of the most common psychological problems in older people, and those staying in residential care facilities are more vulnerable.This study aims to explore depression and associated factors of older people staying in care facilities in Nepal.This is a descriptive cross-sectional study.A total of 216 older people were recruited from geriatric centers of Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.Depression was assessed using GDS-15 Scale.Statistical software SPSS23.0 was used for data entry and analysis.The mean depression score was 7.55±3.56,with a score range of 2-13.The prevalence of depressive disorder in the study population was 74.5 %, where 30.1 % of respondents had mild, 31.0%had moderate, and 13.4% had severe depression.Results show being male, having chronic diseases, comorbidities, feelings of stress, and type of living facilities were statistically significantly associated with anxiety.The difference was statistically significant (p<0.05).Depression and anxiety were also significantly positively correlated (r=0.232,p< 0.01).At last, elderly people living in care facilities had slightly high levels of depression.Government and residential care facilities should be aware to provide appropriate support, care, and early psychological care during the intervention for the elderly to help not increase depression and other problems.