Prevalence of Loneliness and Depression among Elderly in South India

Abstract

Introduction: ‘Old age’ considered as the least desirable phase of the life cycle and is characterized byfinancial, health, social and other problems. About 10% of the people over 65 years in community have signsof depression. The most common emotional disorder in the elderly population is depression, mostly causeddue to loneliness, which is often overlooked by health care professional and family members.Objectives: The objectives of the study were to assess the prevalence of loneliness and depression amongelderly and to associate the selected background variables with loneliness and depression.Methods: The research design adopted for this study was descriptive study design. The study was conductedamong 300 subjects to assess the prevalence of loneliness and depression among elderly.Findings: The study results revealed that majority of elderly 43.3% had experienced moderate loneliness,41.3% of elderly severe loneliness and 15.3% of elderly had mild loneliness. With regard to level ofdepression among elderly 52.0% had mild depression, 40.0% had severe depression and 8.0% of elderly hadno depression. A statistically significant association was identified between the loneliness among elderlywith regard to age, marital status, education, living status, economic dependency and between the depressionamong elderly with regard to age, education, living status and economic dependency at p<0.001 level.Conclusion: This study brought into light that majority of the rural elderly population experienced mildloneliness and depression. Thus, active measures have to be initiated among family members and health careprofessionals to combat this dual problem of loneliness and depression among elderly population and aidthem to live a life with happiness and satisfaction.