Prevalence,influencing factors and help-seeking style of depression among elderly population in Wenzhou area

Objective To investigate the prevalence,influencing factors and help-seeking style of depression among elderly population in Wenzhou area.Methods Totally 1 937 community-dwellers(≥60 years old) were screened with Geriatric Depression Scale(GDS),of which,514 positive subjects(GDS score ≥11) and 447 negative subjects(GDS score <11) completed Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical of Mental Disorder IV(DSM-IV-TR) axis I disorders interviews.The subjects diagnosed with depressive disorders were investigated with Help-Seeking Style Questionnaire.Results Totally 81 depression patients among GDS positive subjects and 7 among 447 negative subjects were diagnosed,with an adjusted one-month prevalence(95%confidence interval) of depressive disorders of 5.50%(4.52%,6.60%) among the elderly.The risk factors for geriatric depression(GD) were 80 years old and older,with chronic somatic disease,and with chronic pain.The protective factors were being married and having high quality of life.The psychiatric service help-seeking rate among the depression patients was 2.27%.The most frequently visited medical institutions by the patients was internal medicine department of general hospital(38.64%),followed by inpatient department of general hospital(26.14%),and pharmacy house of community(18.18%).Conclusion The prevalence rate of geriatric depression among elderly population in Wenzhou area is high,and the depression patients have a very low psychiatric service help-seeking rate.The influencing factors of geriatric depression included age,marriage status,chronic disease,chronic pain,and quality of life.