A cross-sectional study to assess psychosocial stressors in elderly with depression at department of geriatric mental health, Kgmu, Lucknow

Background: Depression in elderly is a condition where an elderly is going through a lot of changes and stress, both physically and mentally. Psychosocial stressors are the most commonly affect the elderly and interfere the daily activities. This study assesses the psychosocial stressors among the elderly with depression. Objective: The main objective of the study was to find out the association between the psychosocial stressors and level of depression in elderly with depression. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 60 elderly diagnosed with depression who were attending the OPD and IPD of Department of Geriatric Mental Health, KGMU, Lucknow. Severity of depression, level of stress and psychosocial stressors were assessed with Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Perceived Stress Scale and Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale respectively. Socio-demographic and clinical details were also obtained from the patient by using a semi-structured socio-demographic pro forma. Results: Most of the patients reported very severe depression (53.33%) while 93.33% reported moderate level of perceived stress. A significant association was found between psychosocial stressors and depression with type of family, educational status and history of mental illness. Psychosocial stressors were significantly correlated with depression. Regarding type of family, educational status and history of mental illness, psychosocial stressors were significantly correlated. Conclusion: The study concluded that, psychosocial stressors were associated with depression in elderly which suggests that psychosocial stressors may be a very important factor influencing depression in elderly patients.