Quality of Life and Spiritual Well-Being in Geriatric Patients With Chronic Depression

Abstract

Background: Most people do not appreciate the aging period because of lack of knowledge or unknown backgrounds; therefore, they get affected by chronic mental disorders. Depression is one of the most predominant chronic mental disorders. Objectives: In this study, we aimed to examine the relationship between quality of life (QOL) and spiritual well-being among geriatric retired employees of the oil industry in Khuzestan, Iran, who had chronic depression. Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study on 200 retired employees of the oil industry in Khuzestan, Iran, selected using simple random sampling technique. The variables were measured by three different standard questionnaires, including the QOL questionnaire (SF12), spiritual well-being scale (SWB), and depression scale (GDS). Results: The mean age of the study group was 65 ± 4 years. Most of the patients had elementary or middle school level of education (44%). Hypertension was the predominant chronic disease associated with depression (37%). The mean QOL, spiritual well-being, and depression scores were 27.9 ± 6.4, 105 ± 13.8, and 4.2 ± 4.35, respectively. Spiritual well-being had a significant negative correlation with depression (P = 0.0001), indicating that the prevalence of chronic diseases such as depression decreased as spiritual well-being increased. There was also a significant negative correlation between the QOL and depression (P = 0.0001). Conclusions: The results of our study showed that chronic depression disorder was significantly correlated with QOL and spiritual well-being of the elderly. To have healthy, independent, and happy geriatrics, it is important to consider such problems.