Abstract
Objectives : To contribute to developing a strategy to prevent depression in the community-dwelling elderly, this study examined the relationship between depressive state, and physical, social and spiritual factors in this population. Subjects and Method : A questionnaire was completed during a semi-structured interview conducted in participants' homes or community centers between November and December 2010. Participants were among residents aged 65 years or older living in the community (n=475) in Village A, Okinawa, who were randomly stratified by age, sex, and community listed in the basic resident register. Univariate or multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association of factors with depressive state, with the Geriatric Depression Scale-5 score as the independent variable and basic attributes, spirituality rating scale score, quality of life-related health score, provided support, and received support as the dependent variables. Results : As a result, 31% of the subjects were classified as depressive state. Univariate analysis showed that high age, bereaved, unmarried, living alone, low subjective economic status, low income (<2 million yen/year), low physical health, low spirituality, low provided support, and low received support were associated with depressive state. After adjusting for age, family structure, subjective economic status, and income, multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that physical health and spirituality were significantly associated with depressive state. Conclusion : These results indicate the importance of physical health and spirituality to the prevention of depression among the community-dwelling elderly in order to maintain and improve their mental health, and suggest especially the usefulness of spirituality for the development task "loss and integration" in old age.
