Study On The Prevalence Of Geriatric Depression And Its Risk Factors In Community-based Population In Shanghai

Objectives:To understand the prevalence of Geriatric Depression in community-based population aged 60 and above,as well as related risk factors in Shanghai;also to explore the present status of social engagement and social support in the aged both urban and rural in Shanghai.,as well as related factors,in order to find the appropriate straegy of sthenghthening mental health in the aged.Methods:A cross-sectional survey was employed for the research and a sample of the 1,227 community residents aged 60 and above was selected.The Sixth Rihui Neiboughhood and Jiangnan New Neiboughhood in Xuhui District were chosen for urban population through the multistage random proportional sampling,and Jiangbang Township,Hanjing Township and Xinli Township in Jinshan District were chosen for suburban population through the multistage random cluster sampling.The 1,227 subjects were interviewed with the Geriatric Mental State Schedule(GMS) and its corresponding computerized diagnostic system,the Automated Geriatric Examination for computer assisted Taxonommy (AGECAT),as well as the status of social participation and social support.Based on the database,newly diagnosed cases of Geriatric depression were selected and controls from the subjects without GD were matched for case-control study.At the stage of the designing, investigating and inputing,a lot of approaches were conducted to ensure the study quality.Results:1.The prevalence of Geriatric Depression in community-based population aged 60 and above was 3.7%,the prevalence of severe patients is 2.1%.There was significant difference between male(1.9%) and female(5.2%).To evaluate the relationship between the prevalence of GD and relevant factors,several factors were analyzed, including,gender,religion belief,self-perceived satisfaction such as financial,life, health and positiveness,poor vision,psychopathy heredity history,the chronic disease number,the PADL,social contacts,social support and negative life events.The results indicated that religion belief,self-perceived health satisfaction,negative life events were associated with an increased risk of GD,support satisfaction was associated with a decreased risk of GD.2.Aged people participated in hobby groups mostly(participants prevalence:22.2%), secondly the organizational group(19.3%),followings were volunteer group(17.2%), work-related group(17.0%),property management group(15.2%),charity group(13.0%), party(11.8%),religion group(9.6%) and others(1.5%).The participants prevalence in inner Shanghai is much higher than the remote.The present results showed that age and educational level were associated with social participation.The related factors distributed differently in different group.The social participation is related with the social support the aged got from the participation.Conclusion:The prevalence of GD was influenced by many psychosocial and physical factors.To raise the level of mental health among the aged population,social participation in multi-channels and effective social support should be followed,and studies on these should be furthered.