J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc.  2013 Nov;52(6):442-446.

Prevalence of Depressive Disorder among the Elderly Attending Community Health Center in a Small City

• Park CW
• Seo JS
• Yim HW
• Jo SJ
• Jeong H
• Nam BW

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study was conducted in order to collect data regarding depressive disorder of elderly people at a community health center.
METHODS
A total of 109 elderly people participated in this study. Trained examiners evaluated the general characteristics and symptoms of the subjects. Then the doctors conducted interviews with the elderly subjects in person and diagnosed depressive disorder according to the standard of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-TR.
RESULTS
The prevalence of depressive disorder was 19.3%, major depressive disorder 10.1%, dysthymic disorder 1.8%, and others 7.3%. According to results of logistic regression analysis, in terms of demographic variables, the odds ratio of elementary school dropout compared with elementary school graduates was 3.60, after adjusting for age and sex. Thus, we found that elementary school dropout was associated with an increased risk of prevalence of depression.
CONCLUSION
This is the first study of prevalence of depressive disorder in a primary health care center in Korea. Results of this study confirm that the prevalence of depressive disorder is two times higher among adults in the Chungju community. In addition, the level of education was also highly related. Examiners detected a possible relationship between sex and residence. The results will be helpful in conduct of future studies at the health care center.

Keyword

Prevalence; Depressive disorder; Community health center

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged*
Community Health Centers*
Delivery of Health Care
Depression
Depressive Disorder*
Depressive Disorder, Major
Dysthymic Disorder
Education
Humans
Korea
Logistic Models
Odds Ratio
Prevalence*
Primary Health Care
Student Dropouts

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