Correlation between hypertension and depression in urban community elderly in Fuzhou city

Objective To study influencing factors of hypertension and depression and the correlation between the two diseases among urban community elderly in Fuzhou city.Methods Totally 2112 residents(882 with primary hypertension and 1230 with normal blood pressure)were recruited from two communities and surveyed with Geriatric Depression Scale(GDS)and a self-designed questionnaire on general information between April to May 2012 in Fuzhou city.SPSS 16.0 was used in data analyses.Results The prevalence of depression was 64.4% among the elderly hypertensives and significantly higher than that(55.3%)among the elderly normotensives(χ²=16.386,P<0.01);the difference in the prevalence between the two groups was independent of age,gender,living condition,family support,familial daily expenses,and hobbies and interest in daily life(P<0.05);the elderly hypertensives of married,with the education of junior middle school or below,having a monthly income less than 2000 RMB yuan,paying all or partial medical costs by themselves had significantly higher depression prevalence than the elderly normotensives(all P<0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the risk factors of depression were age(odds ratioOR=1.499,95% confidence interval95%CI:1.213-1.852)and hypertension(OR=1.453,95%CI:1.200-1.759)(both P<0.05),while the protective factors were self-paying for partial medical costs(OR=0.752,95%CI:0.592-0.956),having more hobbies and interest in daily life(OR=0.704,95%CI:0.560-0.885),with strong family support(OR=0.575,95%CI:0.473-0.700),and with enough income for household expenses(OR=0.786,95%CI:0.645-0.959)(all P<0.05)among the elderly.Conclusion Hypertension correlates positively with the incidence of depression among urban community elderly in Fuzhou city.